New Legends, New Heroes: A Bionicle G2 Sequel
by Kamen Rider Raika
Summary: Long ago, six Toa heroes defeated the evil Makuta and sealed him into the Shadow Realm with the unified might of their elemental powers. Centuries later, the divided tribes of Okoto face a new, unknown threat. In one last attempt, the Protectors summon the Toa once more to help them. However, these Toa are a little… "different." (New chapter every other Friday now)
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: Bionicle is property of the LEGO Company. I don't own any of the characters, names, places, and ideas that were already mentioned in the Bionicle franchise and fandom (both G1 and G2).

* * *

 _I was there that day… Even now, I can remember it… as clear as the sky… The six heroes standing in the center of darkness… ready to fight what threatened to come into our world…_

"Makuta!"

"This ends now!"

 _Before, I once thought myself as an old Mask Maker… Wise and powerful… but even the wise can be undone… and so was I for a time…_

 _I had been trapped for a thousand years in an endless sleep… until they came… And now, I watched my saviors begin to save our world… Each of them embracing…_ becoming _the elements they represented… fire, water, stone, earth, jungle, and ice made into form..._

 _And across from the heroes… I saw him… Makuta… Once he had been a kind Mask Maker… my brother… but the monster that stood before me was not him… just a black twisted image of jealousy and hatred… standing at the doorway between our world and the world from which he was imprisoned... wearing the forbidden mask he made... the mask that drove him mad and cursed me to my slumber..._

 _And I watched the two forces meet… The power of the elements fought against shadow… Their powers colliding in magnificent lights…_

 _Yet, as I watched… I felt sorrow… You see... I knew how it would it was meant to be… prophecy had shown me how..._

"For Duty!"

 _I was not meant to say it… No matter how hard I wanted to…_

"For Unity!"

 _… they soon knew it too… and when the time came, they accepted it…_

"For Destiny!"

 _… and together, they used their powers to banish Makuta… back into his realm of shadows… while they returned… to their realm in the stars..._

 _And I… I was sad to see them go…_

* * *

"... And thus, it was how our world… our island of Okoto… came to be… at peace..."

Finishing his story, Ekimu rested his head on his pillow and looked around with what little strength he had left. The dim blue glow of his eyes caught masks, old and new, and their bearers, who had been listening to the story intently. From all over the island of Okoto, they came to see the great Mask Maker, their old leader from a time long past, and the one who fought alongside the great heroes that saved their island from destruction.

Yet, when they came, they could only look down in sorrow. They knew what was to come, and so did Ekimu himself. He was old. Very old. His body was filled with aches and pains that forced him to bed, as well as rust spreading from his feet up to his mask's crown-like horns.

Nonetheless, Ekimu allowed himself to resume. "Our lives have been plentiful…" his voice rasped behind his mask again. "These past years... have given us great days… fond memories…"

Ekimu's mind wondered for a moment. He could see the great City of the Mask Makers beyond his bedchamber. The great halls and towers rebuilt and refilled with Okotans after centuries of abandonment. The sun shining on the laughing adults and their children as they continued on with their lives.

However, the old one turned back to his audience and raised a weary finger. "Remember... our island of Okoto… may be safe for now… but… but…"

A hacking cough interrupted Ekimu. His attendants rushed to his aid, but Ekimu raised a hand to stop them. The filters of his mask, rusted from time, wheezed out the last remains of the awful sound. Ekimu rested once more and resumed.

"... but… be wary… there is always danger… and evil is cunning… there will be a time… when you must… call on the great heroes for aid…"

A sigh left Ekimu, feeling the numbness spread all over his body and his own weight growing lighter. His eyes threatened to close, but he would not let them. Not yet. _Not yet..._

"Remember this…" Ekimu said, his voice barely a whisper, "... in your time of need... call on the prophecy… at the Temple of Time… and they will appear… the Toa… the _Toa..._ "

With his words spoken, a final gasp struggled out of the mask, and the eyes of Ekimu, last of the great Mask Makers, went dark forever.

* * *

AN: Bionicle's short-lived reboot was always a strange fascination for me. Even when it ended, its potential had me wondering what tales could be told about the island of Okoto, especially given the world and whatnot. That fascination is what led to this, a story that has been in the works for quite a while now. For what it's worth, I hope it's at least a little interesting.

Special thanks goes to both _Emperor K. Rool_ and _Toy Coy 2.0_ for looking at the chapters. I really appreciate what these guys have done for me, and I would suggest to check their stuff when you have the time.

Raika out.


	2. Chapter 1: The Gathering Storm

_"Hear now, my son, what the prophecy says. When times are dark and all hope seems lost, the Protectors must unite, one from each tribe. Evoke the power of past and future, and look to the skies for an answer. When the stars align, six comets will bring timeless heroes… United, the elements hold the power to defeat evil. United, but not one."_

\- Narmoto, Protector of Fire, telling his son the Prophecy of Heroes. Five hundred years ago...

* * *

The Temple of Time had seen better days. Once the most revered place in all of Okoto, it turned into a giant block of stone. As Torren walked up the stairs, blue cloak billowing, he had a closer look at the damage. In the five centuries after the death of Ekimu the Mask Maker, snow, wind, and rain cracked the sturdy rocks, so much so the stairway appeared to have veins. If an army went up the steps, the entire thing would crumble and join the stubs of obelisks below.

For Torren's lonesome self, he reached the top and saw five other figures waiting under the arches of the Temple's doorway, their distinct and respective cloaks wrapped around their bodies. Their oh-so colorful masks, and their moods, turned from each other to the latest arrival.

The first to speak was Ferra, the Protector of the Stone Tribe. "Punctual as ever, Torren," she said sardonically, her eyes sneering behind her brown mask.

Torren, Protector of the Water Tribe, a hand over his heartlight and humbly bowed his blue mask. "I do apologize," he told her, and the others. "I was delayed back home."

"Trouble with the boys?" Ruka, Protector of the Jungle Tribe, said with a tone as light as her green color.

"Yes, Waya and Mizu are quite a handful. It took me forever to just keep them still. Plus, the walk through the frost took time," Torren chuckled at his half-lie. In truth, his sons were placed under guard, and his journey had been short. The Temple of Time was between the Region of Jungle and his home in the Water Region, but Torren delayed himself to see if any of the Protectors would answer his call.

Protector Ignar of the Fire Tribe, the tallest and most notable in his red mask, shivered under his fine cloak and growled. "Alright, we're all here, Torren, as we agreed. Now, let's hurry inside."

Now, Ferra narrowed her gaze on Ignar. "What's the rush? Afraid you'll be a block of ice?"

Ignar turned to the black-clad Protector hunched beside Ferra. "Hanu, tell your friend here to shut up!"

As always, Hanu of the Earth Tribe was steady and silent under his rugged cape. The unanswered Ignar growled again. "If they don't shut up, we'll all freeze to death!"

"Not all of us will," the deep, chilly voice of Hunarr, Protector of Ice, said from his isolated corner.

"Quiet you!" Ignar snapped, shooting a red glare at his white, icy counterpart.

"Maybe not freeze to death. Maybe catch a cold an' burn up!" Ruka exclaimed with a 'tee hee.'

"Protectors, please, please!" Torren cut in. "We're all here for the same purpose! Please, just this once, let us do this _without_ fighting!"

Silence fell over the others quickly, and those with sneering or joking expressions stared stoically at Torren's impassioned blue mask. At last, Hunarr said, "Very well."

"Just this once," Ignar begrudgingly agreed, and so did everyone else, to Torren's relief.

One by one, the Protectors entered the ancient structure. As they walked on the ancient floor, the cold breeze touched their masks' curved extensions. No one noticed, their glowing eyes focused on the elevated platform in the center. It remained in the dark as ever, since the temple no longer radiated as it used to. The Protectors knew that would change, if only for a moment.

The six spread out until they formed a ring around the platform, and each was presented a staircase. For Ignar and Hunarr, they strode up in powerful steps; Hanu hobbled on the rock while Ferra's feet thumped on it; Ruka skipped a few steps; and Torren stepped gently and gracefully upward. Reaching the top, the Protectors stood on a symbol of their respective element and stared at the small pit in the center. "Is everyone ready?" Torren asked from his symbol.

Ignar huffed. "Let's get this over with."

Torren turned back to the pit. Ready, or not, it did not matter. This was perhaps the only chance they had. This had to be done, or else… that Torren did not want to think about right now.

The Protectors faced their metal palms to the pit. As one, they recited the ancient prophecy that had been passed down, from one Protector to the next. Five hundred years ago, it brought their world's saviors. Now, the Protectors hoped it would do so again.

As the chanting continued, colorful light lanced from the Protectors' hands and into the pit. Inside the pit, their chanting, their message, began to take root. Blue water gave it life, and red fire lit it as white ice honed it to a tooth. Yellow stone and purple earth set the groundwork and hardened its fiery core, and green jungle covered it with the finishing touches.

The pit glowed, and had the Protectors turned, they would have seen the writing on the walls glow too, speaking of heroes long past and yet to be known. They stared in front of them, eyes down in the pit, from whence their message beamed upwards in white light.

The light went higher, through the open roof and into the skies above. Six masks watched the trail of light thin until it disappeared into the dark sky. Then, Hunarr asked, "Now what?"

"Now, we wait," was all Torren said as he went for the exit.

The Protectors followed Torren's example. They already had much to worry about, and they now knew they would have more on their hands. As they left, however, they were unaware of the lightning flashing in the distance.

* * *

As the storm brewed over over Okoto's Region of Water, the boat drifted away from the coast. The rocking waves pushed up against the boat's metal hull, making it sway back and forth enough for anyone to become seasick. For young Mizu commandeering the boat, he looked up, and his blue mask lit up from the flash of lightning. "Come on, Waya bring the rods!" he called from the steering wheel.

"I'm coming Mizu, I'm coming!" answered a smaller figure.

Waya, Mizu's younger brother, ran onto the giant deck with a few thick, metallic rods in his hands. Waya, whose light blue mask showed uncertainty, handed his taller brother one rod. "You know," he cried over the thunder, "dad wouldn't like us doing this!"

"Yeah, well, he's not here!" Mizu snipped, placing his rod in back end of the boat. "After we're done, we'll be the famous lightning catchers in all of Okoto!"

"Or be burnt to a crisp," muttered Waya, who placed his rod in the frontal bow.

Mizu did not hear it, and he turned to the sky above. "It's coming! Get ready!"

Waya, having practiced their routine beforehand, readied himself. He waved back and forth on the deck and inserted the final rod into the stud in the center. Waya looked up, expecting for lightning to strike. However, the blue hints in his eyes caught something else. "Mizu, look!" Waya housed with a pointed finger.

Mizu turned to where his little brother was pointing. It was in the distance, where the sky was not covered by stormy clouds. In that distance, six bright lights, brighter than the stars, shone with a distinctive color.

The ridges above Mizu's eyes rose in shock. "What's that?"

Before either brother knew it, the six lights fell. The single points had left colorful lines in the sky as they came down. One in particular, a blue light, shone brighter and bigger than the rest. That, Waya realized, was because it was getting closer.

"Uh, Mizu, it's coming this way-"

"I know!" Mizu interrupted his brother to keep calm.

The blue light, which turned out to be a comet, grew bigger as it came closer. Minutes, perhaps seconds passed when the waters frothed about, rocking the boat even more. Mizu kept a tight grip on the wheel, while Waya slid back and forth before grabbing on the rod implanted in the center and held onto it with his dear life.

Then, the comet hit the ocean. Large waves of water rippled from the epicenter and stretched out to everything nearby, including the lonesome boat. "HOLD OOOOOOOOON!" Mizu shouted.

Waves crashed into the boat, and some water spewed onto the desk. Everything rocked from one side to the other. Barely holding onto the steering wheel, Mizu could barely hear his little brother call out to him. "Mizu! The storm's coming!"

Mizu looked up. It was true. The storm was now overhead. There would be no way for them to escape it. "Get ready!" he shouted.

As the storm now fell over the boat, clouds and rain darkened Mizu's vision. Only the occasional bolt of lightning showed which direction the boat was going. The several seconds stretched out into chaotic minutes. Waya shouted something, but Mizu could not hear it over the thunder and crash of waves.

As the boat rocked to one side, Waya had been yanked away from the center rod and crashed into the side. "WAYA!" Mizu shouted.

Waya did not fall off, thank the elements. He crawled back up to his feet and shouted something. Again, Mizu did not hear him.

Everything that happened next was a blur. The fiercer the storm grew, so did the waters. Between the faint lines of lightning and the constant rocking, it was difficult to even keep track of where the boat was even going.

In that massive storm, the boat rocked violently again. Before Mizu could wonder, the lightning flashed through the storm's haze, and Mizu saw it clearly; a third figure on the boat.

This was not a regular Okotan. No, it was taller. _Much_ taller.

That figure stood beside the unsuspecting Waya, towering over him. Mizu would have rushed to his brother's side, but the giant did not pay attention to Waya or even Mizu. It went over to the front of the boat without falling overboard.

There was another flash, revealing a massive spear pointed upwards. As it did, something happened. The bolts that flashed randomly appeared in quick succession, one after the other, and each struck onto the spear. Mizu watched from afar, surprised, and even Waya took notice of the mysterious figure, whose spear shone brighter than the lightning itself.

Crackling with the very lightning it caught, the spear unleashed it back onto the skies above. Mizu and Waya looked away from the bright flash erupting from the spear. For several second, neither of the brothers could look straight at the light.

After several seconds, the light was gone. To Mizu and Waya's surprise, so was the storm and the chaos that came with it.

Now in a still boat on still waters, Mizu and Waya could only stare at their savior as the former wordlessly let go of the steering wheel and walked over to the latter's side. On the boat's bow, the mystery being stood there, hunched over and breathing heavily with exertion as one hand released its grip on the frontal rod. As the giant stood straight, both Okotans could only watch in surprise.

"No way…" Mizu heard his brother, but it was so quiet, he was not sure if it was real.

Under the clear skies, there he stood, like a tall statue. Dim moonlight gleamed off the purple armor, also revealing a blue bolt painted in the center. A round mask, equally purple, faced to the Okotans, the younger of whom stared at the pair of horns extending from the mask's crown.

The being turned and asked in a deep voice, "Are you two okay?"

Silence met the question. The two brothers sat there, staring in awe at this strange being who rescued their lives. The same being slammed the butt end of his spear onto the deck of their boat.

The loud _CLANG_ pulled the two brothers out their shock. The yellow eyes of their savior glowed as he spoke again, "I asked: are you two okay?"

Mizu and Waya nodded, too shocked to say a word. It took them several seconds before Mizu could even speak. "Who… who are you?" he asked.

"You don't know?" the being asked incredulously. When the brothers shook their masks, he sighed. "I suppose I should introduce myself then..."

One crystalline-like hand on his spear and the other on his hip, the being stood proudly and declared to the two Okotans, "... My name is Voriki, the Toa of Lightning! Now, who has summoned me?"

* * *

AN: And that's chapter 1! I hope you all liked it, and I would appreciate it if you would leave a review to let me know what you think.

Bit of a disclaimer: This iteration of Toa Voriki is inspired the faked character of the same name from Bionicle's original run (2001-2010), meant to serve as the seventh Toa to original six heroes (the Toa Mata in 2001, who became the Toa Nuva in 2002) before a certain Toa of Light came around in 2003. I can't say whom the original Voriki belongs to, as I couldn't find the original creator's name. That being said, this is a different iteration of Voriki for G2 and he is different from his fan-made counterpart for G1.

Raika out.


	3. Chapter 2: Breeze through the Jungle

Ruka was very surprised when she and the other Protectors saw comets appear moments after leaving the Temple of Time. Upon seeing the comets upon the temple steps, the Protectors wasted not another second.

Ruka tightened the reins, and the large, dragon-like wings of her urdak flapped faster. The water plains of the Region of Water fell away for the Region of Jungle, and in an area of luscious green treetops, a line of black smoke was easy to find. After the urdak dove towards a newly made hole in the jungle's canopy, the trail of smoke, thin from far away, was a gigantic pillar up close. And it was not alone.

Ruka landed her beast, the wings folded and the claws attached to them, digging deep into the grassy ground. The high-pitched shrill announced its arrival to the other green Okotans nearby the smoke. "Easy girl, easy," Ruka gently petted her urdak's scaly head.

Among the other Okotans, one approached the dismounting Ruka with his wooden spear. "Halt! Who goes..." the Okotan stopped and quickly raised his spear in salute. "Protector! I'm sorry I didn't-!"

"S'alright," Ruka waved it off to the Okotan. "What's happenin' here, scout?"

The scout, one of the Jungle Tribe's proud guardsmen, faltered slightly. "Well, protector, we saw the green comet crash here. We thought we come here and investigate to find the Toa, but..."

Ruka took the note in. They knew about the Toa? She hid that bit of information away and asked, "Does anyone else know?"

"Everyone saw the light, Protector. In fact, a few of ours already went back."

"Did you find anythin'?"

The scout was silent on that, so Ruka passed by him. The other scouts saluted seeing their Protector, who walked towards the large pillar of smoke. Ruka thought she would find something at the bottom of the newly-formed crater, only to find...

... no one?

Ruka's eyes widened. "Wha-?"

She had no time to wonder. A light rustle of the surrounding trees turned into loud shrieks. Ruka whirled her mask to those trees, where a scout ran out and shouted two words: "Skull Spiders!"

Then, that scout fell prey to a small gray spider-like creature. As the creature pried at the scout's masks with its four legs, a dozen more like it swarmed out of the trees. "Protector, watch-!" one scout shouted before he was the next victim.

Something growled behind Ruka, and she turned to find her urdak pinning a couple Skull Spiders under its giant claw. "Thanks, girl!" she said. She mounted her urdak and called out, "Anyone who can, get on!"

The remaining scouts rushed to their Protector, more afraid of the Skull Spiders than the snarling urdak. Only a few managed to get near Ruka's beast, and one scout shouted, "There's too many! We gotta get to the tribe!"

"No!" Ruka argued, spotting a few more scouts. "There's still some left!" Grabbing on the reigns, Ruka readied her beast to rescue those scouts at the mercy of the Skull Spiders.

That was when green arrows rained from the sky.

Ruka did not know how many arrows fell. She knew when they struck, they either disappeared instantly and left smoky wisps behind on the Skull Spiders. One by one, they fell to the ground in a paralyzed and stunned state to pose a threat. The remaining few retreated, and Ruka looked up.

Now, she saw him coming out of the pillar of smoke. Now, she saw her Toa, her tall and green Toa floating thanks to the turbines on the bow he held out in front of him.

Ruka jumped off her urdak to get a closer look, and she still could not believe it. This was a genuine _Toa_ , like in the legends. Hanging loftily in the air, the yellow emblem of a tornado popped from a chest of deep green. Ruka spotted lighter shades on the thin arms, dangly legs, and even the mask itself.

Once his silver feet touched the ground, the Toa peered down. The ridged brows, sticking out of the mask, lowered on his red eyes as gravelly voice rasped behind his mask. "You wanted to see me?"

Ruka nodded herself out of her shock. "Yes. Good thing you showed when you did! Those Skull Spiders would've done us in!" Ruka held out her hand. "I'm Ruka, Protector of the Jungle Tribe. Nice to meet you, Toa of the Jungle-"

"Air."

Ruka's eyeholes blinked. "What?"

"It's Toa of Air," the Toa gruffly replied, resting his bow's gray blades on his shoulder.

"Air?" Ruka repeated in surprise. "But ain't you supposed to be the Toa of _the Jungle_?"

"It's _air_."

"You sure?"

"I'm very certain," the Toa said, clearly annoyed.

Ruka blinked again. Then, shaking her head, she murmured, "No, no, no, no. This won't do. This won't do, at all."

"Uh, protector..." a voice spoke from behind Ruka.

She whirled around to the scout who addressed her. "Scout! Who told you about the Toa?"

"Master Okil, protector..."

Ruka's eyes frowned. Of course it would be him.

Ruka turned around to the new arrival. "Mighty Toa-"

"Stop with the honorifics. It's just Toa," the 'just Toa' said rather harshly.

Ruka corrected herself. "Toa, you must come with me." One of the Toa's long eye-ridges rose, and she continued, "We gotta head back. We need to head back to the Tribe. I can take you to someone that can show you other Toa like you. He can help you."

That last part was part lie-part truth. It was more to Ruka's benefit than to the Toa. It did not seem to matter to the Toa, as he told Ruka, "... very well. If it helps me figure out why I'm here, then I'll come."

With perked up eyes, Ruka whooped to her urdark. The beast came, shrugging away the scouts near her. Ruka jumped aboard her urdak and rode off into the sky, and her Toa flew behind her, carried by the turbines on his bow.

Her destination: The Jungle Tribe... If it was still there.

* * *

Thank the elements, the Tribe remained where it was since Ruka left. After losing their original home centuries ago, the Jungle Tribe traveled within the borders of their green and brown realm, always packing up their tents and moving them to another part in the region... And sometimes leaving their Protector behind if she was not up on time, but that was neither here nor there.

Ruka sped towards her Tribe's current residence atop the ancient, large, and unmoving Vizuna Tortoise, flying over the reptile's massive head before landing on its several-mile-long brown shell. She jumped off her urdak and did not bother to hand the reins to the Scout waiting for her. Already, she could hear chatter of "Toa, Toa" across the Jungle Tribesmen, which worried Ruka. No one else was supposed to know about the Toa so soon. She did have a hint who could have told them, though.

Her target was further ahead, among the many pointed and leaf-colored tents. When she entered one, Ruka was greeted a Okotan sitting patiently inside. That Okotan, Okil, greeted Ruka with a layer of sarcasm. "Hello, sister, what brings you to my tent? Did ya bring me somethin' this time?"

Entering the makeshift tent, Ruka said aloofly to her brother, "I'm sure ya've heard about the Toa."

"Who hasn't? All of Okoto has seen the comets by now! Really Ruka, you of all people should know how to be more..." Okil's yellow eyes gleamed in the shadows, "... discreet."

"You know what I mean," Ruka said, noticing the chatter outside died down a little. "Everyone's chatting about Toa before I say a thing, and I know you got connections all the way up to the Earth Tribe. There ain't no way you didn't know I was meetin' with the others in secret!'

"Really? You were doing that?" Okil said in faux surprise. "You're exaggerating Ruka. I don't have spies."

"Yes, you do."

"No, I don't."

"No lyin'! I know ya got eyes in my scouts."

"An' like I keep sayin', there ain't no way you can prove that!"

Ruka gave a _hmph_ at her big brother. Okil was the darker sibling, literally and figuratively. His dark green mask always made him stand out in their family's otherwise lighter shades. Never fitting in made Okil mischievous, if not downright conniving, always trying to have someone spy on his little sister's Protector duties.

In spite of that, Ruka said something she thought she would never have to say: "I need ya help, Okil."

Her brother laughed, laughed, and _laughed_. "Good one, sis," he said when he could. "Really funny!"

Ruka's mask was unfazed. Okil stopped laughing when he registered that. Now, Okil said in surprise, "You're serious. You're _really_ serious."

"Yep," she replied, popping her 'P.' "That's 'cause of our new friend..."

On cue, the Toa of Air-not Jungle-stepped into the tent. When Okil had nothing to say, Ruka began the introductions. "Okil, Toa. Toa, my brother, Okil."

Okil was silent for several moments. Ruka wanted it to last longer so she could frame his surprised expression and hang it up on her wall. "What ya need?" he asked Ruka.

"Need to know what's goin' on with the other tribes. We can't be the only ones with this sorta thing," she replied plainly. Ruka then turned to the Toa. "No offense."

The Toa regarded Ruka with that cold stare, and Okil side-glanced his sister. "Ain't the talkative type, I see."

Ruka shook her head. "Don't seem like it... So where we headin'?"

"Fire Region's closer to us. You should check their Toa out."

Ruka nodded and silently left her brother's tent. Sighing, she murmured to herself, "This'll be hard."

"Why?"

Ruka glanced at her Toa. "Cause the Fire Protector. If there's one thing I know, it's this: he ain't gonna be happy. And, knowing his temper, he could shoot us first..."

The mask behind Ruka tensed.

"... or not. We'll just have to wait an' see," she said with a carefree shrug. "For now, let's go greet the crowd."

With that assurance, Ruka led her Toa and spotted he kept a tight grip on his bow while following behind.


	4. Chapter 3: Raging Fire's Light

Dawn eventually came to the Region of Fire. The sun washed over the various lava beds and rivers of volcanic valley, and a lone white figure atop a crimson mountain shone in its light.

Facing away from the horizon, the Toa leaned two golden arms on his broadsword. The horizontal slits in his white slab for a mask glowed as his orange eyes looked. They looked, past the golden starburst insignia on his broad and bleached chest, to the molten red spire in the center of the valley. Strange crafts entered and left it, and he swore there were even shouts of alarm. Only his discipline, and the heavy pauldrons on his shoulders, kept him in place.

The hours of waiting gave the Toa time to think. He heard the call from far away and knew he had been summoned. To where and for what, he knew not, and he did not want to scare anyone by rushing in for answers. So the Toa waited for anyone to notice his shining self.

Apparently, someone did. The Toa saw a group of tiny figures, all wearing the same red mask. They all looked the same, with their spears and shields at ready.

His patience paid off, the Toa stood straight. One hand kept his broadsword pointed to the ground, so not to scare off his newfound friends. Among them, the caped one at the lead held his arms wide open and spoke.

"Welcome to Okoto's Region of Fire! We greet you as our hero, Toa of…"

The words of died down. Eyes were wide with shock. Not just for the caped one, but everyone around him. It was strange. Surely, they recognized him as a Toa. Would that not be enough? Sadly, no one said anything, so the Toa beamed his voice from behind his mask.

"I am Maram of the Light," he introduced proudly himself. "I greet you as your Toa and pledge to defend your people from whatever afflicts them."

There were only silence and the long gazes from his spectators. At long last, the caped one gave a response from the bottom of his very being:

"Makuta's black heart!"

Maram's eyes grew large. Out of all the things he expected, _that_ was not one of them.

"Unbelievable! Absolutely unbelievable! That idiot! He… he…" the caped one, presumably the leader, ranted and raved with raised fists. "He made me walk all the way, put up with them, go through the whole ritual, and I don't I even get the _right Toa_?!"

Maram was not sure what do say. Any words he wanted to say, which was enough for a speech, evaporated in this one's fiery heat. Everyone else was just as speechless, save for one guard who whispered, "Protector Ignar…"

"WHAT?!"

The lines on Maram's mask winced seeing the fiery gaze fall on its victim. "... w-what do you want us to do?" said the poor shrinking guard.

The seething leader simmered down a little. "Head back. Tell everyone we have _a Toa_ ," he said, and Maram found blue eyes on him. "And bring him to Captain O'nah. He'll know what to do."

When the leader turned around, the guard called out, "Um, protector, where are you going?"

"To the arena! I need to let off some heat!"

And so, the leader went back the way he came in heavy stomps, taking his men. Maram was left alone staring at the same guard who spoke up. That guard hesitantly turned to face the white giant. "Uh, this way Toa…"

Confused as much as everyone else, Maram placed his sword on his back and went with the guard, following the fiery path left by his 'protector.'

* * *

"W-welcome to the Fort of Narmoto, Toa," Maram's guide stuttered. He jumped when the massive outer gate closed with a _BOOM_. "Uh, we'll just wait here for the captain to arrive."

Ignoring the few stares around him, Maram nodded and looked up to the grand scale of the spire in front. Made of the red substance as the outer walls, it towered over even the surrounding mountains and had slabs jutting out for strange crafts to land on. It seemed as grand as luxurious as its Protector who was previously seen spitting flame on his way in.

"Do you like it, Toa?" Maram heard his guide. "The fort has been here for the past couple centuries, housing the entire tribe. I hear it was made to withstand an army."

"An army?" Maram echoed. "Are you preparing for war, little one? What enemies do you have?"

The guide looked down sheepishly. "W-well…"

Another _BOOM_ drew the pair to the black double-doors in front. Exiting the spire's base was another 'Fire Tribesman,' armed with a shield colored molten black unlike the standard gray shield. He stopped and looked up Maram without a hint of fear. "So, you're the Toa," the Tribesman said then turned to the Toa's guide. "That will be all. Return to your post."

"Yes, captain." The guide rushed to his brethren on the wall, leaving Maram with the Okotan.

"I am O'nah, captain of the Ember Guard," the Tribesman in front of Maram introduced himself, his red mask held high. "In spite of these circumstances, it is an honor to meet a Toa."

Maram relaxed a little. This one was clearly was with honor. "Likewise," he returned and followed O'nah inside.

If the outside was any indication of greatness, the inside of this Fort of Narmoto was more impressive. It was like staring at the inside of a shell, the center blazing with magma. At the fiery bottom ring, Captain O'nah led Maram to one of several metallic elevator placed around it. After the Toa took careful steps aboard one, the captain pulled on a long lever and the rope pulled the elevator up.

As he rose, Maram had to grab onto the railing to keep himself upright. Looking down as he was, he was tempted look back at the bottom bubbling with lava. That was when O'nah spoke.

"Careful, Toa. The magma we use here builds up every now and then." O'nah emphatically pointed to the opened roof. "Soon enough, the lava shoots up to the top, where our lava-catchers grab it for our blacksmiths to use. You wouldn't want to be caught in that."

"No, I wouldn't," Maram agreed and eyed the elevator rising alongside the inner walls. Along it, several layers of ringed archways stacked atop one another, and each archway was a chamber filled with more of the Fire Tribe-workers, artists, children-carrying out their day as usual. Maram saw them all, most of them coming out see the fabled Toa they heard about.

It was not just a fort, it was an entire village.

"Your home is… fascinating," Maram breathed in astonishment.

O'nah replied, "This is nothing. Wait until you see the Water Region, but don't let Ignar know I said that."

Now, the Toa's eyes glowed in amusement. "You seem to be familiar with your leader," he noted.

"You could say that. He wasn't always the Protector of Fire and I wasn't always captain of the guard. We lived in the same house, ate the same food. We were brothers, even if we shared not the same Fire-father," O'nah explained then peered over the lift. "Ah, speaking of which…"

The elevator shook to a stop, to Maram's discomfort. The Toa wobbled behind O'nah into an archway and his senses cleared to the clangs of weapons. In the middle of a fighting ring, two broad-shouldered Tribesmen fought one another with metal spears. The one with the golden spear was easy for Maram to deduce, even without the cloak.

"Come on! You can do better than that! RRAAAGH!" shouted Protector Ignar as he swept at his opponent's feet.

The other Tribesman fell out of the ring's golden bounds, which Maram believed to signal defeat. The Fire Protector took no pleasure in his victory and threw his spear to the ground. Seeing the match was over, O'nah spoke. "Have you calmed down, Protector?"

"Not much, Flame-Brother. Not since…" Ignar stopped upon seeing Maram. "... Ah, it's you."

Maram's eyes remained stoic. "I was watching you fight. Your skills are impressive… but they require some improvement," he commented.

"Improvement? _Me_?!" The pride in Ignar's eyes balked, surprising Maram again.

O'nah hastily stepped in. "Perhaps we can continue this another time, Protector. Come Toa..." He rushed the Toa out of the chamber to speak to him. "I'm sorry Toa, but criticizing the Protector only makes his temper boil. It'd be best if you kept your distance for now."

Maram, still taken aback, barely noticed another Fire Okotan running to the Captain and shouting, "Captain, captain! There's a group of Jungle Tribesmen outside of the gate! They're demanding an audience with the Protector!"

O'nah's calm facade cracked a little. "Why are the leaf-lovers here?" he wondered then looked to Maram. "I'm sorry Toa. I must cut this short. I ask you stay here and wait for my return."

More waiting? In most cases, Maram would have agreed, but there was something not quite right about this. "Perhaps, it would be best if I come along."

"I cannot ask you of that. It won't take long to turn these trespassers always."

"Please, I insist," Maram's orange eyes smiled at his honorable host, "after all, I am your Toa."

* * *

After the outer gate _boomed_ shut, Maram found himself addressing a shocked audience for the second time today. Instead of red Okotans, these Jungle Tribesmen were green atop winged creatures, silently staring at the Toa. "Well… still can't believe it," said the leader to herself.

Across the green ones, O'nah passed the confused Maram, his flaming spear held out while demanding, "State your name and purpose!"

"Watch it, flame-breather! This is Protector Ruka ya'll speakin' to!" shouted a Jungle Tribesman.

Atop her leafy cape, Ruka's mask smiled. "Oh, you don't need to speak for 'lil ol' me. We'd want to meet Ignar. I'd reckon he's in the arena, right?"

O'nah kept his eyes on the leader. "I know who you are, Protector. What do you want?"

"'Cause of our mutual… situation." Ruka's eyes were on the white Toa, who caught the hint.

"Surely, if that is all, then it shouldn't be a problem-" Maram began, but O'nah cut him off.

"I'm afraid you'll have to wait. I'm sorry Protector, but that's final."

The other so-called 'leaf-lovers' did not take the news kindly. "Why wait?! We've been flying for hours. We ought to get good treatment!"

O'nah eyed the Jungle upstart, and Maram felt the tension build in the hot air. "Careful now. You should watch your temper in this place… After all, fire burns jungle."

"And air blows fire away," intervened a new voice.

Maram questioned the logic of that comeback but said nothing on it, and he looked to the newcomer stepping from the Jungle group. It was another Toa, green and barely coming up to Maram's own chest. Happy to see another of his kind, Maram waved a hand. "Hail, fellow Toa! I am Maram of the-"

"I know what you are," the Toa of green said sharply. "Tell your friends to stand down _now_. These people aren't here for a fight."

"Well, I believe no one here is. I'm sure we can reach an understanding."

A finger pointed past Maram. "I doubt that with those spears."

The comment drew Maram to approaching spears of the Ember Guard. While it was only a handful, Maram immediately placed himself in between the two parties, hands held out to both sides. "There is no need for hostilities! Everyone, stand down!"

"Tell dem guards to stow their weapons!" shouted a Jungle Tribesman, who had not heeded Maram's words.

"Tell them to keep their drakes back!" barked back an Ember Guard.

"Hey, they're urdaks!"

"We don't care, you leaf-lovers!"

"What ya call us, soot-brain?!" shouted another Tribesman.

A flame spear lit up, and the Toa of green raised his bow in retaliation, careful not to shoot just yet. "This is your only chance," he warned. "Let us pass, _now_!"

"Fraid we're past that," Ruka sighed to her Toa. By the time she spoke the words, the tension was brimming; sharp jaws snapped at the Ember Guard, whose spears lit up at the Jungle Tribesmen and their Toa.

In the center of it all, Toa Maram sighed. He drew his broadsword, channeling his power into it. As much as he hated to do this, he saw no alternative. "That. Is. **_Enough_**!" he shouted and stabbed the ground.

 _FLASH!_

Everyone, the green Toa included, was blinded by the shining sword. Seconds later, the light disappeared, and Maram withdrew his pale blade from the black soot. "Now… is everyone calm?" he addressed the stunned crowd, his voice sharp.

No one had anything to say. The crowd, both red and green, fell silent and eyed the white Toa in between. Their looks alone gave Maram the answer he wanted, so he returned his sword to his back. He felt satisfied until Ignar stomped past his guard, his voice blaring over the silence.

"What is going on here?! Ruka, you better have a good reason why you're trespassing on _my_ …"

Maram expected him to be screaming, but he found the Fire Protector had fallen silent. For a long moment, Ignar had his sights on the green Toa and Maram himself, both standing side-by-side. Then, he shouted again.

"Guards, send word to the other Protectors! Tell them we're meeting at the City of the Mask Makers!"


	5. Chapter 4: Shadows in the Earth

The message arrived just as the sun began to set. It had been a mere three days since the Protectors met at the Temple of Time. Within those three days, Hanu of the Earth Tribe had to deal with his "unique situation," and he suspected the others were dealing with their own as well-otherwise he would not have received this message from Ruka's scout riding an urdak. In fact, Hanu was more surprised it did not arrive earlier.

Hanu already finished reading and placed the parchment in the purple glow of his crystal lamp. The ancient Protector sat on his bed, thinking on this situation as he would with others on previous nights. Tonight, Hanu was not alone, as Tira, his daughter, took the message in her hands and read it by his bedside.

After reading the letter, Tira's black mask glanced up to Hanu. "So," she began, "what are you planning to do about this?"

Hanu shrugged. It was a typical response he had for such occasions. He had seen how past meetings turned out, how each one left the Protectors more disconnected and distant than the last. Still, Hanu's answer did not please Tira.

"You must have some idea. You are going to meet the other Protectors, after all." When there was no response, Tira blinked her blue eyes and asked, "You are going, right?"

Again, no response.

Tira put the letter on her lap. "Father," she sighed, "you can't keep silent about this forever. Are you going or not?"

Grabbing the message, Hanu regarded his daughter with a low and forceful _hmph_. It was the only audible sound that came out of him in hours. Clearly, he did not want to go, but he knew there was little choice in the matter, so the Protector swung his legs off the bed and slowly stood on his dark feet. As soon as he grabbed his cloak, Hanu wobbled.

Tira rushed over and caught her father before he could fall down. "Easy, easy. Remember, don't rush it," she said. When Hanu glared at her, Tira snapped back, "None of that. Now, be quiet and let me help you to the door."

In any other situation, Hanu would have laughed. His own daughter was telling _him_ to be quiet. Nonetheless, Hanu obeyed and let Tira put on his cloak. Afterwards, he went around his bed for the door, with his daughter holding him by the arm. The old door, made of carved metal from the Region of Stone, creaked open as Hanu made his first step out. Tira had let go, but she was still worried.

"You're going to see her, aren't you?" she asked in a quiet tone.

Hanu turned to Tira and nodded slowly. He knew whom she meant. That person was far different than what Hanu initially expected, and almost everyone in the village were afraid because of it.

However, Tira knew her father too well, so she did not stop him. "... Just be careful."

If there was a smile, Hanu let it glow softly in his eyes as he gave Tira an assured pat on her arm and slowly exited his hut.

* * *

The Village of Earth, or more appropriately known as Korgot Caverns, was a series of underground interconnected caves with homes dug out and molden from the earth. While Hanu left the outskirts, the familiar cobblestone changed into rocky gravel under his feet. The crystal lamps of the main square fell on the surrounding old homes, damaged from previous cave-ins. Those homes had been centuries ago, way before the old Protector was even young.

Hanu left those reminders behind on his way to a dark and uninhabited tunnel that only seemed to go up and up and _up_. Alone, Hanu's confident stride became a cautious hobble once he found a ray of sunlight. He looked up to the giant hole in the ceiling, finding the outside word above, then looked down to the ceiling rubble on the floor.

No sign of _her_. Hanu was not sure whether to frown or smile in relief. She had been here before, and the last time he checked, his guards assured him nothing had changed.

Those same guards stood around the light. The five of them, in ebony masks, registered the approaching Hanu and saluted their glowing crystal spears. Hanu nodded and gestured a hand to the five.

"Protector, I'm afraid to say she's gone," one reported the obvious. "I'm afraid none of us can explain why. She just seemed to disappear without saying a word to us…"

"We were about to send word to you, but none of us were sure on how to tell you," said the second guard, his eyes briefly darting to the others. "I take full responsibility of the-"

Hanu waved the last comment aside, easing the second guard. A third took his comrade's place and continued, "Protector, we haven't found any sign of her. She doesn't seem to be in the immediate vicinity… We're not sure what to do, exactly…"

The answer was simple to Hanu as he gestured a thumb over his shoulder. The gesture was simple, and the guards realized what their Protector was asking for. "Y-you want us to look for her?" the fourth guard asked, his expression frozen in the purple light of his spear.

The fifth and final guard spoke up, "But sir, she's-"

Hanu held up a hand, and everyone fell silent. He did not blame these guards for their hesitation. Out of everyone, they saw first-hand what _she_ was capable of, and it was nothing to take light of. Still, there had to be some way of finding…

"Protector! Protector!"

That shout came from a new, sixth guard rushing towards the group. Hanu turned to catch the guard's widened eyes blinking with every word.

"Protector, you must come quickly! There's a problem back at the village!"

* * *

All six guards following behind, Hanu returned to Korgot Caverns to find it buzzing with chatter. Not unusual. The fact the chatter was focused in front of one specific section was. Hanu did not have to figure out for long as he followed the few Okotans drawn in by the commotion.

The trail led Hanu to the source, where the said commotion was concentrated in front of one house. It was a very familiar house he visited on several occasions. Hanu, approaching the crowd, was easily spotted by his fellow tribesmen. "Protector! Protector!" one called out. "Over here!"

As soon as Hanu heard it, the large crowd of a hundred-maybe two hundred-moved aside. At the front of the crowd, three of Hanu's elite guard stood by the entrance, their drill-shaped spears at ready. "Protector, we came as soon as we heard the news," said one. "We were told there was an intruder lurking around before they came inside here."

"It's true!" shouted someone from the crowd. "I was minding my own business when I saw a pair of eyes appear in my shadow! I ran for my life before I came here!"

Another joined in. "I was fixing the lamp when it suddenly went dark and I saw the same thing!"

"Yeah, me too!" proclaimed a third, which joined by several more claims with similar accounts.

Hanu sadly knew whom they all were talking about. He drowned out most of the shouts until he heard one more speak. "... It was there, just right beside the house before it suddenly walked through the walls." The black-clad Okotan shivered at the memory. "It looked all scary, so my friends and I called the guards…"

"They are all correct, Protector," the second elite guard nodded. "We waited for your arrival to see how to deal with the issue."

Hanu eyed the three guards, almost asking " _Why didn't you go inside?_ " The answer was obvious though as the third elite guard spoke up, his voice slow and hesitant.

"There's more... Your grandson is also in there."

While the others reprimanded their colleague for blurting out the secret, Hanu's stoic mask flickered with concern. He turned to the crowd searching any sign of his daughter. Hanu found her housekeeper as the stocky female came forward, her very being shaking with every word. "... I… I was taking care of the house when I saw… _it_. So dark and evil-looking… It spread everywhere that I… that I ran out and…" The housekeeper looked down in shame, unable to face Hanu. "I'm so sorry, Protector!"

As the housekeeper broke down, the first elite guardsman said, "We're still looking for Tira. She and Kerac haven't been home for a while now."

Given that bit of knowledge, Hanu focused his steeled gaze to the house. He knew of one way to resolve this. He took a step past the guards and opened the door. When the guards offered to come, Hanu held a hand, stopping both normal and elites in their place.

"Protector, you can't-!"

Hanu raised his fist above his head. The chatter died in seconds. Everyone who saw knew that sign well, and none dared to oppose the command. Turning from the hushed crowd, Hanu entered and closed the door behind him.

He immediately stumbled. The crystal lamps had gone out, leaving only the little light from outside. Hanu, remembering the place well enough, strode forth, and his steps were silenced by the soft carpet aside from the occasional toy or two that squeaked under his foot. His eyes went back and forth between the dimly-lit corners of the cubic room, his hands briefly touching the smooth top of a kitchen counter. Through trial and error, Hanu came to the door on the far wall already ajar and peeked inside.

 _She_ was there, as Hanu suspected, in the center of the room. Her black-armored form knelt on the floor, her legs casting an eerie purple glow. In the darkness, dark arms slowly waved around a cradle, the translucent hands casting deep shades of violet over the tiny form. The entrancing sight lured Hanu in to hear a soft voice hum with the dance of lights. "There, there… there, there…" she said over and over again while rocking the cradle ever so gently.

That was when the Toa finally turned around. The long dark extension hung from the back of her circular mask, and the wavy brows rose as a pair of pink eyes saw Hanu. "Oh! Hello there," she greeted in a quiet voice, yet somehow the cheer still stood out the most.

Hanu looked away to close the door. As it creaked loudly, he turned back…

… and found the Toa popping right in front him, a finger held up to her mask.

"Ssssshhhhh! You'll wake him!" she whispered and pointed to the cot.

In response, Hanu slowly and quietly closed the door. The Protector faced the Toa, now rising from the floor he stood on. He looked up, past the purple orb in her chest, to the gleeful mask she wore. Twice the size, she easily towered over Hanu. She was also the brightest thing in the room, figuratively and literally, as she almost danced on her glowing legs and spoke in a restrained tone.

"Sorry about that. I know you wanted me to wait, but I couldn't! I was waiting for more than two whole days, so I thought I'd explore the place and meet new people! Everyone seemed nice… though they did look at me funny whenever I tried talking to them." The Toa stopped and shook her head off the tangent. "I'm getting ahead of myself! Anyway, I was just passing by when I heard this noise. I rushed in and found this little one crying. He wouldn't stop and no one was around, so I stayed a while…"

Hanu raised an eye ridge at the Toa then at the babe sleeping in the cot. The Toa noticed Hanu's look and was quick to assure him. "Oh, no need to worry about your grandson now. He's fast asleep. And let me tell you, it took a while to get him… to… sleep…" she trailed off when she actually looked at Hanu.

The old Protector's stare fell back on the Toa. In spite of his age, he remained cautious and steady as he had been since he first laid eyes on her.

The Toa's pinkish gaze fell in worry. "... am I in trouble?" she asked meekly.

Hanu presented the piece of parchment from his cloak. The Toa took it and read the message. By the time she finished, her eyes perked up slightly. "Oh." She looked to Hanu. "You… want me to come along?"

Hanu nodded.

"And we're leaving tomorrow?"

Again, Hanu nodded.

"Well then, I'd-oh!" the Toa caught her loud voice and glanced at the cradle. She then handed the message back and whispered, "I'd better start packing. I'll see you in the morning!"

With that, the Toa showed herself out. Instead of taking the door, she stepped into the shadows of the baby's room. The watching Hanu held back a shiver. The way this Toa's body melded into the shadows looked unnatural, like she was melting into water. The unsightly process continued until the Toa stopped and turned around, only her upper torso and head sticking out.

"Oh, before I forget, I might have borrowed some food to feed your grandson. So… yeah… sorry about that..." she said in a low voice and with more awkward pauses.

As before, Hanu's silence met the Toa.

"Well then, byeeee!" she waved before she sunk into the shadows.

After the Toa completely disappeared, Hanu allowed himself the quietest of chuckles, realizing he had nothing to fear from her yet.


	6. Chapter 5: Iron Upon Stone

**AN: Just wanted to say thank you to everyone who read this story and left a review, favorite, and/or follow. Seeing people enjoy what I've written helps a lot, so I really do appreciate it. Also, I want to take the time to reply to any guest reviews (which I may do if I get more later on, so let's see how that goes for now).  
**

 **Akarenger - Thank you for your comment and that is definitely what I was going for in the last chapter. I wanted to change things up a bit, and I hope you liked it. As for the remaining elements, you will have to read to find out, but I hope you do like the upcoming chapters. Speaking of which, here's the latest chapter. Enjoy!**

* * *

"Excuse me! Pardon me!" Norii said to a miner she cut in front of, not catching the surprised look as she rushed ahead.

In the sandy streets of Nilkuu Village, more masks turned out of curiosity, but it was waved the aside when they recognized Ferra's young pupil and occasional gofer. Norii heaved the satchel over her shoulder and ran past the yellow and brown Okotans of the Stone Tribe, the miners and craftsmen lined alongside the rows of rickety wooden buildings placed on either side of the village. To Norii's eyes, everyone seemed pleasant for once, and the chatter proved that.

Four days into their Toa's arrival, things were looking better than they had been in the past four years. Old hinges on house doors had been fixed, wheels and metals were refined, and even the old water pump was working again. Safe to say, life in the Region of Stone went from slightly bearable to slightly enjoyable. All thanks to the new Toa, even if she wasn't the right one.

Speaking of whom, Norii heard the _clangs_ and _bangs_ of the Toa's crafting as she approached her destination. It was not hard to notice a workshop missing less than half of its frame, which was due to a certain someone dropping in. Norii made her way up the creaking steps and inside to find the Toa. In the smoke-filled room, the Toa blended in and was only made visible to the sparks coming off the anvil. Protector Ferra, though, was easier to spot on the other side.

"... and then, we had wait outside the entire time," the uncloaked Ferra said over the hammer blows. The conversation was one Norii didn't want to interrupt so she listened, "It was freezing so much Ignar was complaining… He does complain about everything, but you understand…"

"You seem to talk a lot about Ignar," commented the Toa, kneeling over the anvil as her silver hand brought the blocky hammer-shaped like the darkened mark in her gray chest-on the rod Ferra held.

"Only because it's hard not to." Ferra said, which irked the eavesdropping Norii. The Stone Protector's voice lowered when the Toa stopped hammering to inspect the metal. "That temper of him really makes him stand out. There's a reason why we call him 'Ignar the Igniter.'"

"I see." The scope over the Toa's right lens zoomed in, and she noted methodically, "Hmm… the edges need to be smoother…"

"I think you've been working on that too long. It's only a pickaxe."

"The metals must be made into the finest tools," the Toa argued, placing the metal back on the anvil and used the hammer again to smooth out the edges.

Ferra backed from the other side of the anvil. "Well… I guess there isn't such a thing as too much work," she murmured.

"Speaking of work," said the Toa, "do you plan on visiting the other Protectors?"

Norii caught the pensive look in Ferra's eyes. She knew her mentor well enough to guess the next train of thought: "I might… By now, we all know we don't have the right Toa-no offense-"

"None taken."

"-so I don't really have any reason to be in a rush. If I go, I'll go at my own pace." Ferra's eyes smirked when she added, "Just like Torren did to get to the Temple of Time."

With that, Ferra disappeared into the back of the workshop. "Uh, Protector Ferra!" Norri called but the older Okotan was gone.

The Toa did notice, turning to her left side and peering through her mask with her one green eye. "Ah, you must Ferra's apprentice, Norii. How can I help you?" she greeted pleasantly.

Startled by the Toa's height, Norii stumbled inside. "I'm sorry, uh…" her voice trailed into silence.

"Easy there, little one. Take your time."

Norii cleared her throat after a second. "I'm here to see Protector Ferra. I was told to bring her something…"

"Ah, is this 'another gift' she keeps talking about?" the Toa asked, her left eye smiling gently.

Norii nodded and opened her satchel. It was another piece of metal, broken and gleaming with a golden finish. It fit in her palm but her aching shoulder attested to it weighing a ton. The Toa's scope extended to study the markings. "How interesting…" she murmured then looked to Norii. "Would it be okay if you left it to me? You must be busy, so I can show it to your Protector."

Norii briefly glanced at the metal then relieved it to the Toa. She wasn't one to question the word of a Toa. "If you could Toa, please tell Protector Ferra it's really important. The Copper Guard aren't sure what it is but they found it near the Black Crater," she requested.

Again, the Toa's lonesome eye smiled. "I will, little one… and please call me by my name."

Norii nodded and left after giving her thanks. The doors flapped opened, and she found the scorching sun on her sandy mask. She was well away from the workshop, when a rustle in her satchel stopped her. She opened it to find a small piece of parchment. A piece of parchment with the red seal of Protector Ignar stamped on it.

"Oh no!" Norii gasped. She rushed past the several confused looks and other establishments to return whence she came.

The steps creaked loudly as Norii barged into the workshop with the message in hand. "Protector, I forgot to give you-!" Norii stopped to find the place empty.

Protector Ferra was gone, left with her cloak, the golden metal, and the Toa. The only thing left was just smoke and a dimly-lit furnace. "Protector?" Norii called again only to receive a crumple of paper under her foot. Norii picked the paper up and read what was on it:

" _Norii,_

 _I have left for the City of the Mask Makers. If you received a message from your father, burn it with this one. Make sure no one else knows about the 'gift' you gave me now. If anyone does know, do what you can to silence them._

 _Ferra._

 _P.S. I'm taking the Toa with me. I'm counting on you to take care of everyone here._

 _P.S.S. I'm taking your father's motor sled. Sorry._ "

Sighing, Norii put her mentor's crumpled note and her father's unopened message into the furnace, and as she watched both turn into ash, she could only hope for the former's safety.

* * *

Riding dangerously under the noon sun and near the highest point of Okoto, Ferra called over the engine, "It's not much farther! Just another mile, then we can get off!"

"I hope so!" replied the Toa sitting on the blocky engine behind Ferra.

The quickest path to the City of the Mask Makers wasn't the safest. Getting there meant going through the Great Divide, the mountain range that split the island into its six regions. One side rested the desert of the Stone Region and the Ice Region's glacial terrain on the other, respectively splitting the rocky path between sandy heat and bitter snow. Fortunately, Ferra had a cloak for protection and a motor sled-another gift she received-for a quick ride.

That motor sled suddenly shook. "What was that?" asked the Toa.

Ferra waved it off, gripping the handles on either side of the motor sled. "Probably just some road bumps! Nothing worry ab-YEOW!"

She was cut off by a great _BOOM_ that veered the motor sled off the road. It fell on its side, flinging both Protector and Toa on the white half of Great Divide. While the former fell mask-first into the snow, the latter twisted mid-air and landed her silvery feet for a recovery. "Are you alright?!"

"Pfah! I'm fine!" Ferra answered, wiping a hand over her snow-covered mask.

"I take it those don't usually happen?"

"No!" Ferra confirmed, wondering what could have happened.

The answer came in the second _BOOM_. Two arms, each the size of Ferra's workshop, punched through the mountain path, and an equally massive body of stone and bedrock emerged from under it. Purple light gleamed through the cracks and pores in the earthen and unevenly-cut creature as it hovered over the travelers, its mouth glowing the most when it roared.

The deep base rumbled over the Toa. "What is that?!" she gasped at the golem five times her size.

Ferra recognized the creature staring them down with purple-lit eye sockets. "It's the Earth Guardian! But what's it doing so far away from Hanu's territory?!" she could only ask and the only given answer was the Earth Guardian's arm swinging down on her.

The Toa intervened. One hand gripping her short-handled hammer, she forcibly thwacked the rocky limb aside, and the so-called Guardian howled from the debris falling off the new wound that bled with purple light. While it reeled in pain, the Toa asked, "Is there a way to beat this?!"

"I thought you would know! You were summoned for this kind of thing!" Ferra responded.

The Toa looked to the Earth Guardian, the right eye scope zooming on it. Before Ferra could ask what was the plan, the Toa said, "Wait right here!"

And she was off. The Earth Guardian swung its arm to meet the Toa's charge. The Toa herself dodged, but the ground she stood shook from the strike. Snow and rubble showering on the Toa, who staggered next to the huge arm. The Guardian hovered over its pinned hammer-wielding enemy, ready to crush her under its severe weight.

"Watch out!" Ferra shouted. To her surprise, the Toa just stood there, waiting for the giant come closer and closer to her position.

Suddenly, the Toa threw her hammer, and a second thwack rang off the Earth Guardian's chest, followed by a loud _CRACK_. It stopped briefly and pulled away, bellowing loud shockwaves at yet another wound. Driven to insanity by pain, the Guardian dug two thick fingers in and yanked out the Toa's hammer that had been imbedded into its chest.

The Toa rushed in again to retrieve her weapon. The Earth Guardian did the deed for her, tossing it back. This time, the Toa was _thwacked_ away by her own hammer and landed near Ferra. "Toa!" the Protector called, about to rush to her savior's aid.

Ferra was stopped by the shaking ground. She first thought the Earth Guardian was attacking. Instead, she found the Guardian retreating through the hole it made, and the shaking had soon left with it.

In the silence, Ferra was brought of her shock by the groans of her Toa, still lying next to her hammer. She ran over and gently rolled the Toa on one side, relieved to find more extensive damage. "Is… is it gone?" Ferra heard the Toa groggily ask.

She nodded. "Yeah, it's gone. Whatever you did drove it away…"

"Good… ow…"

"You alright?" Ferra asked the groaning Toa who grabbed her hammer.

"I'll be fine. I just need some rest," responded the Toa, now walking back up to the mountain pass, or rather what was left of it.

Ferra was about to follow when she noticed her hip was lighter. She swore it hadn't been like that during their trip, not when it was supposed to have…

Frozen worry took hold, and Ferra darted around her. She pushed and kicked at the snow around, darting up and down the surrounding area. "Where is it? Where is it?!" she asked over and over again.

Doubt was about to take hold, and it would have if not for a tiny _clink_ against Ferra's foot. The Protector sighed in relief to find the golden shard. She picked it up and fastened it tightly under her cloak to make sure she didn't lose it again. After double-checking, Ferra went after the Toa to the flipped motor sled. Hopefully, it was good enough to get them to their destination and tell the others what happened.

For now, Ferra, her Toa, and her mysterious "gift" were safe. That was all that mattered.


	7. Chapter 6: Frozen in Time

A voice rang off the icy walls, sounding as boyish and curious as ever. "So, how far are we?"

Hunarr groaned at what was perhaps the hundredth question for today and continued down the tunnel. He didn't bother to answer the question nor face the questioner, not when the icicles on the ceiling shivered slightly. The voice sadly didn't stop and went on, "You know, it would help if you told me where we're going."

"I've already told you," Hunarr finally replied.

"Yeah, but I don't know what this great 'City of the Mask Makers' is like. A description might help… Maybe a history lesson…?"

There was time for neither. Using the man-made tunnel under the Great Divide was already time-consuming. It took Hunarr about a quarter of a day to get to the Temple of Time, and the journey to the City of the Mask Maker became twice as long, thanks to the constant stalling of his questioning companion. Speaking of whom, a strange _tink, tink, tink_ of metal drew the Ice Protector to the Toa, the tall being's bronzen form clashing against the pale surroundings.

Hunarr noticed the sickle in the Toa's black hands. "Why do you have that?"

The Toa peered from atop the copper-colored half-mask on his lower face. "Oh," the Toa said, no longer tapping his finger on the crystalline blade, "it was just something I found back at the Ice Region… I thought I'd take it with me since, you know, I don't really have a weapon…"

Annoyance rose in Hunarr's voice. "And I thought I told you leave it. We can't bring such things with us."

"Why not?"

"Because where we're going is a sacred place. Weapons and the like must be left behind."

"But why?"

Hunarr shot an icy glare. "Has anyone told you not to ask too many questions?"

"Um, no," the Toa spoke up. "Other than your wife, you're the only person who has ever talked to me."

Something that Hunarr was quickly regretting as he returned down the path, his cloak breezing behind him. Four days ago, when the Toa first appeared on the frozen doorstep Izotor's Glacier, everyone had kept their distance. This Toa easily clashed against snow, with the copper hourglass sign in the center of his bronzen body. Those legs of his, also covered in copper, carried him from one crystalline building to the next, waving his blacken arms around and asking the residents why he was even there and-more importantly-what he was.

It was only the intervention of Hunarr's wife that the Toa received a few of the answers he wanted. It sadly didn't stop the Toa from talking, even when Hunarr offered to take him to their destination a day ago. "This tunnel is very helpful," said the following Toa after sometime. "Do the other Protectors know abou itt?"

"No, they do not."

"Maybe it would help if they did-"

"Absolutely not," Hunarr cut the Toa off, whirling to the taller being. "If the others knew, they would fight over it, and this place would be lost. The secret of this passage has been handed down from one Protector to the next for over three hundred years, and I won't let it fall in the hands of those who had no hand in caring for it!"

The shuddering stalactites brought Hunarr back to reality. He glanced up to see nothing had fallen, yet he suspected the ceiling wouldn't merely shake from his voice. He looked back to those white eyes frowning at him as the innocence in the Toa's voice echoed softly on the freezing walls.

"But… they're your allies, right? Your friends?"

It was at that point Hunarr kept silent. His feet strode down the tunnel, trying to distance himself from anymore questions. Fortunately, the Toa followed in hallowed silence. It made the rest of the walk quick and easy for Hunarr taking the lonesome path. It dipped slightly then rose increasingly to a bright light at the end of the tunnel.

"Hey, I see a light!" Hunarr heard the Toa who rushed past him and towards the end.

Hunarr reacted with unflinching calm as the Toa fell forward and vanished into the light. Taking slow steps, he left the icy tunnel and stopped when he felt the warmth of the outside world. From the tip jutting from the darkened mountain, Hunarr stood, and his eyes went down from the orange-lit sky to the great sand-stone city situated in the valley.

Just past the cliff's edge and below Hunarr's feet, the Toa asked, "Uh, hey! How much farther-?!"

"We're here," was all Hunarr said before he left his Toa to hang there, the sturdy sickle imbedded in the mountainside.

* * *

It took several minutes for Hunarr's Toa to get back on track. After climbing back up with just a sickle, he was too tired to say anything, and his attention caught by the boxed-in city on the slope, he followed Hunarr down one level of the mountain to the next and the next until they at last made it. "Woah," the Toa breathed once they made it through the arch-shaped gate.

The inside of the City of the Mask Makers was covered by golden cubic complexes built into the ancient stone. Sounds of the elongated marketplace rang with calls of merchants and clatter of goods. In fact, the entire city had been a mecca for Okotans of all colors, many of whom conversed freely and with friendly calm in the widened streets. Chatter of course ceased when all eyes rose to the strange Toa in awe of his surroundings.

"This place. It's… it's amazing!" he exclaimed, eying the lines sprawled on the buildings that formed overlapping geometric shapes.

Ahead, four or five children ran past Hunarr, throwing a stone ball back and forth. The protector grunted in response. "Stave off your awe, Toa. You're not here to see the sights."

"Well," Toa briefly paused to eye the passing children, "I can see why you didn't want me to bring anything. It looks like everything's fine here-"

"Watch out!" cried a young voice.

The Toa whirled around. The ball that passed by him moments ago was flying through the air. It rose then it arched and fell with a rapid trajectory towards the Toa. The target stared back, legs held firmly and eyes focused on the ball.

For a long moment, the ball was descending rapidly. Then, it slowed and slowed, its path remaining the same. It was as if the ball was in slow-motion instead of stopping and dropping straight to the ground.

It was more than the ball slowing down. The children, the people, the marketplace nearby were unaware of their own existence lacking the same speed. The Toa, in the center of it all, was just as oblivious to them.

That was until a voice called out. "Toa!"

White eyes glanced to the side. It was a Protector. This wasn't Hunarr- moving at his delayed pace like everyone else around the Toa did. This one was cloaked in blue, and he was distant and out of range to witness the event before him.

" _Toa_!" the Protector in blue called out.

The Toa turned away, realizing what was going on and releasing his control unknowingly. "Oh! I'm sorry! I didn't-"

 _BONK!_

"Ow!" cried the Toa who rubbed his head and watched the ball bouncing away at its normal speed.

Sound once slowed to almost a halt resumed with the marketplace and everyone in it, Hunarr included. "Torren? When did you arrive here?" he addressed the blue Protector now in front.

"Hunarr, I've been here," Torren said. "I was here when I saw you and everyone. Didn't you notice it?"

Hunarr frowned. "I don't have the patience for your riddles, Torren. We have no no time to waste. Come, Toa."

Rubbing his aching head, the Toa walked behind both Protectors, one impatient and the other glancing back with a perplexed expression on his mask.

* * *

The ache lingered on the Toa's skull by the time he and the two Protectors reached their meeting point. Resting atop a large hill, the great anvil-shaped structure laid further away from the marketplace and the majority of buildings. Its ancient tan stone was perhaps the only thing not covered in gold… well that and the other Toa waiting at the structure's base.

"So you're one of the other five Toa, huh?"

Hunarr's Toa glanced at the purple lancer who asked the question. "Uh, I guess I am."

The other Toa rose from the stairs he sat on, proudly holding onto his spear. "I am Voriki, Toa of Lightning," he said. "And who might you be?"

Hunarr spoke before his Toa could. "Save your introductions for when the others arrive."

"It shouldn't take too long for now," Torren added to assure his own Toa. "They all should have received Ignar's message. For now, Hunarr and I will head inside."

So the Protectors went up the flight of stairs, leaving Voriki to watch them with impatient eyed before he sat back down on the steps. Across from him, Hunarr's Toa stood there, unsure of what to do or say. He had heard about the other Toa summoned to Okoto, and he now met one. "So, uh… what exactly is going on here?"

"You're probably the fifth person who's asked that question," Voriki sighed. "Honestly, I don't know what's the problem, but I'm guessing it has something to do with what the leaders around here want taken care of. It seems to be pretty standard for whenever we're summoned."

"But what are we doing here? I have no idea what I'm supposed to do!"

"You don't?" The nameless Toa shook his head. Voriki rubbed the chin of his mask. "Well, it basically comes down coming in and saving this place, I suppose. It's what Toa do."

"Really?"

Voriki casted a curious glance. "You have no idea what you are, do you?" he asked and was given another headshake. "I guess amnesia? Do you even know your own name?"

"I do. It's-"

"Hail, fellow Toa!" bellowed the voice of a cheerful white giant striding towards the two Toa, accompanied by a smaller, greener figure.

The Toa with white eyes and who wasn't Voriki fearfully eyed the giant's broadsword. "Uh…"

"You have no need to fear. We are all Toa!" the giant happily proclaimed to the smaller and more relieved Toa of copper and black.

"Speak for yourself," murmured the green Toa, who looked more like a hunter than a warrior.

Voriki stood to greet the two newcomers. "I take it your Protectors already went on in?"

"Yes, they did. I believe they said something about a secret tunnel," the giant replied.

Hunarr's Toa washed off feeling of deja vu. "Well, that's four of us," he counted. "So that leaves with two more, right?"

"One more," said a new chipper voice, causing everyone to look.

"What do you me…?" The ever-questioning Toa didn't finish as a black scythe popped from behind the giant and out stepped a petite female holding it by the S-shaped rod.

"Oh, sorry about that!" the female apologized, putting her scythe on her back.

The Toa's white eyes widened at the black figure. "Um, when did you get here? And… Are you another Toa?"

"Oh, sometime after he showed up," the shadow woman pointed to Voriki, and her eyes smiled, "and why yes, I am a Toa!" She looked up the giant and waved at him. "Ah, hello there! Nice to meet you, big Toa sir!"

The giant kindly smiled back. "Nice to meet you too, little shadow."

The no-name Toa gave up on being flabbergasted when a new voice chimed in. "Well, this is a nice gathering. Can I join?" The new interruption was a silver female, the last of the Toa, who was… limping? And shouldn't there have been a Protector with her?

A brown cloak fleeting by answered the unspoken question. "I'm off to see everyone else! Take care and don't get into trouble!" the Protector called, running up the stairs.

In the brief moment of silence that followed, the giant glanced around to the other. "It seems like we're all here… I suppose introductions are in order."

"I'll start," Voriki offered, leaning a little on his spear. "I'm Voriki, the Toa of Lightning."

Next was the silver-handed smith with the small and blocky hammer on her hip. "Keela, Toa of Iron."

"Zala, the Toa of Shadows at your service," the small shadow said with a flourishing curtsey and pink eyes perked upward. "Oh, I've always wanted to say that!"

"I am Maram of the Light," boomed the white giant, resting his equally massive blade on his shoulder.

The green hunter scoffed, bow resting on his back. "Kaze, air."

"Really? I thought it was jungle," Zala said.

Arms crossed, Kaze shook his head in annoyance. "No one else could be thinking that," he muttered.

"I did," the unnamed Toa chimed in. Everyone turned their masks on him, and he hesitated. "I mean… you have the green color and everything…"

"And who are you, exactly?" Kaze retorted.

"Oh, I'm Rhem, the Toa of Time!" the new Toa finally announced with a smile in his white eyes. That smile fell down when the other five Toa stared at him, their shock easily seen on their masks.

In that moment, Rhem felt as though he had said something terribly wrong.


	8. Chapter 7: Meetings

The light chatter grew heavy by the time Ferra entered the small chamber. After the death of Ekimu, the Temple of Creation had been refurbished into a great meeting hall. The forge itself, where thousands of masks were made, laid dormant as the great hexagonal table rested atop the hole once burning with fiery smoke. When Ferra took her seat between Hunarr and Ruka, she glanced at everyone else, their cloaks barely seen in the dim rays of light coming from outside. "So," Ferra began, "did I miss anything?"

"Not much," Hunarr said, low enough for Ferra to hear over the two arguing voices.

"Pretty standard. Ignar's been _grillin'_ Torren ever since they got 'ere," Ruka added, her eyes smiling at her little pun while Hanu-sitting on the Jungle Protector's other side-shook his head.

Ignar's anger blazed with every word he spoke. "... I trusted nothing but your word! I was promised a master of _fire_ , not this! How can I work when I'm stuck with a Toa asking questions all the time?!"

Hunarr silently scoffed at the Fire Protector.

Sitting directly next to Ignar in his aqua-blue chair, Torren rubbed his mask and sighed. "Ignar, the fact is they are here to help us. We need to give them a chance to acclimate to their situation!"

From his fiery throne, Ignar huffed. "As if we have the time! Already, I had to worry about Ruka and her gang trespassing onto my territory! How long will it be before others will steal what belongs to my people?!"

"We're right here, you know," Ferra snapped, something Ignar noticed.

"All the more reason for me to be worried."

Ferra turned her glare to the others, trying to contain her annoyance. "It's the Toa, right? I saw them on my way in. They're certainly a strange group."

"Strange ain't enough. More like bizarre!" Ruka piped in. "I mean we've got Toas of Light and Shadow, and a Toa of Air with a bow…"

Ferra raised an eye ridge. "Air? I thought he was jungle."

"That's what I said!"

"See, even they know what I'm talking about!" Ignar exclaimed to Torren, pointing to beyond the enclosed walls. "The Toa are supposed to represent our elements! Do any of those Toa outside _remotely_ look like them?! How can they understand us if they can't-?!"

A _SLAP_ of Hanu's black hand echoed off the table. Beside him, the fire of Ignar calmed down with the rest of the clammer, and Torren nodded a grateful head to the oldest Protector. "Thank you, Hanu," he said, then to the others, "Now, that we're all here, we can get to the matter at hand."

"We know, Torren," Ruka said. "No need to skirt 'round oon Makuta's Mask bein' back."

An uncomfortable silence fell all around until Torren cleared his throat. "Yes… First, our Elemental Guardians have left their posts, and now this. It can't be just a coincidence. That's why we need the Toa-we all do, now more than ever. With pieces of the Forbidden Mask reappearing, it will only be a matter of time before Makuta may return."

Ignar puffed out a hollow laugh. "Again, all we ever had was your word, Torren. You still haven't given us proof of the pieces reappearing! If they exist, we would-"

"Oh, they exist," Ferra, ever wanting to interrupt Ignar, said and put her metal piece on the table.

Five pairs of eyes widened. In the room, the golden light shimmered off the metal, and the power it emanated, the power of stone, was still fresh for all looking at Ferra's piece of the Forbidden Mask. Among the watchful eyes, Ignar's rose to Ferra. "Where did you find that?" he asked with an unusual quiet voice.

"Norii dropped it off…" Ignar's expression hardened, and Ferra added with a softness just as unusual, "She said she didn't know what it was, thank the elements."

"Well, we've got proof," Ruka spoke after a moment. "We tell the whole island?"

"No one has to know. We can still call on the Guardians," Hunarr proposed.

"I wouldn't be so sure, Hunarr," Ferra shook her head. "The Earth Guardian attacked my Toa and I on our way here. I think it was after this piece."

A shocked Hanu swirled in his earthen seat, causing it to scratch loudly on the floor. Ferra sadly confirmed the silent question, "Yes mentor, it did happen. We were lucky to escape and keep using our motor sled after the damage it took."

That caught Ignar's attention. "Wait, _your_ motor sled? You mean my motor sled was damaged?"

"I wouldn't worry about it," Ferra waved it off. "It was old, and it probably didn't mean much."

"I had that when I was child! And that wasn't meant for _you_!"

"We're losing track here," Hunarr cut in with his chilling voice. "The more important thing is the mask. Torren, you said you found another piece. Where is it now?"

Torren, eyes still on the metal, answered after a moment, "In the vaults of Kivoda City. It's been locked away for a while now… The bigger question now is what to do…"

At that, Hanu clapped a hand twice on the table. His old student, Ferra, caught on and said. "Tell the Toa? That might be the best thing I've heard all day."

Ferra grabbed her piece of the Forbidden Mask and left. The others followed suit, heading to meet the Toa waiting outside…

* * *

In the small square in front of the Temple of Creation, Rhem stood there, unsure and afraid of what was going on. All around, lightning crackled around a fierce breeze; the ground remained as hard as metal against the torrent; shadows under everyone flickered slightly with fear; and the light almost blinded everything in sight. Rhen was too frightened to say anything and only watched the other Toa, the five whom he was meant to work with.

Kaze kept his bow aimed at the ground, yet he held the string back in a ready position. His red eyes were on Keela holding her ground, right hand resting on her hammer and left outstretched behind her. In between the two, Voriki faced Kaze with his spear standing straight and ready as its wielder. Off to the side, Maram faced the trio, ready to come in and stop whatever may happen.

In the giant's shadow, Zala popped out and nervously said, "Uh… maybe we can all calm down?"

"Yeah," said Rhem, also behind Maram and just as nervous, "that might not be such a bad idea."

The eyes of the other Toa, previously on each other, fell on Rhem again. The glares of Voriki, Kaze, and Keela were enough to silence him. It were only Maram's calmful gaze and Zala's perking eyes that gave Rhem the strength to continue. "What I mean to say is that… well, we're here supposed to help each other out. Maybe trying not to kill each might be a step in the right direction?"

Rhem's words seemed to hit home. Zala was first, coming forth from shadow of the shining Maram. The giant followed by dimming his light back to normal. After Keela moved her hand from her hammer, Voriki's spear was next to power down. The only one left was Kaze, who made wind dash around everyone.

"Toa, we're…"

All eyes, Rhem's included, went up to the top of the steps. There, the blue-clad Protector called Torren stared down with the same surprise that the other five Protectors had when they joined him. "What is going on here?!" shouted the red Protector, a question to which Rhem honestly wanted an answer.

Instead of the breeze growing fiercer, it calmed down and so did Kaze. "Don't think this is over," he muttered, quiet enough for only the other Toa to hear.

"Oh, it better be," Voriki shot back loud and clear while he climbed up the steps. "Rhem here is right. We have a mission to complete first and that is what should matter."

A tinge of relief rose in Rhem, and moreso for the brown-clad Ferra. "Glad to see that someone agrees," she said. "Come on, we have to talk to you about something."

The rest of the Toa followed Voriki up the stairs in calm silence, though Rhem caught red daggers glaring at his back. They went up to the entrance and passed under the joined hammers that made the archway, the same hammers belonging to the pair of giant statues guarding the entrance. Once everyone entered the Temple of Creation, the eyes of the Toa and Protectors lit the dim hall as they silently strode through it, the meeting chamber shining at the end.

That silence ended when Rhem spoke up. "So, uh, are you going to tell us what's going on?"

"We will," said Torren, leading the group. "We need to talk privately first."

"But why not outside? No one was-"

"You'll receive answers, Toa. Please be patient."

At Torren's request, Rhem kept his questions to himself. The air of suspicion, not coming from Kaze, returned and lingered above his head. There was something else that no one else, entering the meeting chamber, noticed until...

"Hey," Zala pointed upwards, "what's that there?"

Along with the others, Rhem looked up at the darkened ceiling. "I don't see anything," he said in spite of the lighting from outside, earning a response from the giant behind him.

"Allow me…"

Maram held aloft his giant blade as it illuminated the chamber with a bright beam pointed upward. Now, Rhem and everyone could see it crawling on the stone ceiling with four spindly legs and angry eyes on the twelve of them. A Skull Spider, Rhem recalled, and it immediately made a dash out of Maram's light.

Zala reacted first. "I got it!" she called and sunk into the shadows on the floor.

Next up, Kaze formed another arrow and aimed at the spider. It only took a couple seconds before he fired. Instead of hitting its target, the arrow hit the ceiling the target once stood on… next to the shadow that Zala's upper torso emerged from.

"Hey!" the upside-down Zala shouted to Kaze down below, shaking her scythe at him.

She went ignored, and Kaze's second arrow struck the ceiling again. "You need to work on your aim," Voriki commented nonchalantly, watching the spider scurry upward and away from the two shots beneath it.

A third arrow struck above the spider. This time, all three spots where the arrows struck glowed green, and a web of green interconnected lines covered the spider in between the three dots, trapping it in place. "You were saying?" Kaze shot back to Voriki.

Kaze's victory was short-lived. The spider's screeches were mixed the sound of the energy net cracking under several escape attempts. Zala, still hanging from the ceiling like a stalactite, held her scythe close and announced, "It's getting loose!"

"So we see," Keela agreed without any sardonicism in her voice.

Rhem glanced at the other Toa. "Uh, are we going to do anything about it?"

"No need," Kaze said. "It can't break the net even-"

A second later, the net broke, and the spider fell.

Rhem whirled back to the spider. Like with the ball in the marketplace, he focused on it, causing its descent to happen in slow-motion. And just like in the marketplace, everyone else was affected. Rhem, eyes still on the little spy, threw his sickle with the hope of hitting the target dead center.

"-if it… wanted to," Kaze finished as time resumed, his voice hardened upon what he and everyone else realized what was happening.

By then, the sickle _chinked_ into the stony wall. To Rhem's disappointment, the spider fell and screeched at a missing leg before an electric spear silenced it for good. "That," Voriki said, freeing his spear of the tiny corpse, "was unexpected."

"I'll say!" Ruka commented. "I'm amazed your Toa coulda stopped that, Hunarr!"

" _Time_ is supposedly his element," Hunarr added offhandedly before Rhem could voice any objection.

The air tensed again as Kaze tightened the grip on his re-energized bow. Voriki responded with a quick spark of his electrical spear and a warning, "Don't. You can put the bow down or we can fight and get everyone involved. Your choice."

A red glare shot at Voriki. At last, the winds settled, and Kaze lowered his bow, his energy arrows dissipating. Voriki followed suit, turned to the elders, and said, "So… what do you need us to do?"

* * *

 **AN: And now, everything has been set. The six Toa are together, and their mission is placed before them. I hope you like this story. **I will be putting it on hiatus for a while (I can't say for certain when I will posting the newer chapters)** due to a number of reasons, one of which is that I need time to make more chapters anyway.  
**

 **If you can, I would appreciate any feedback you have (what works, what doesn't, etc.). For those enjoy this story, thank you very much and please bear with me for a little while.**

 **Last, but not least, HUGE thanks goes out to Toa Coy 2.0 for looking over these chapters and providing his feedback. I really appreciate it, man!**

 **Raika out.**


	9. Chapter 8: Lurking in the Dark

**AN: Alright, after a few months break, I'm back with the latest chapter (again, thanks to Toa Coy 2.0's help). Thank you very, _very, VERY_ much to him and my readers who have been waiting patiently for this new chapter, and please let me know what you think about it (what works/what doesn't,etc.). I hope you enjoy it, and expect the next chapter in two weeks! **

* * *

More than two days had passed, but it felt like forever. After departing the City of the Mask Makers, the six Toa split into pairs and traveled across the eastern half of Okoto. It had been Voriki's idea, though Kaze doubted and suspected the motive behind it.

Speaking of the Toa of Air, his patience wore thin while he landed atop the tip of the thousandth tree. From there, he surveyed the Jungle Region's green rooftop that stretched for miles. He searched high and low for any sign of this so-called Forbidden Mask. Of course, the fragment of _jungle_ was hard to find in an area full of trees, grass, and vines. Not to mention, keeping the search a secret was hard when it meant running into a few scouts every five minutes and making up some story about being on patrol.

"Hey there!"

And then, there was _her_.

After dispelling an energy arrow, Kaze relaxed his posture and cautiously eyed Zala rising from under the shade of his branch. The Toa of Shadows' sudden appearance made him draw his bow, but he didn't fire. That had been fortunate for Zala as she cheerfully jumped on the branch next to his. "Weeeell, you're probably wondering why I'm here…" Zala said and Kaze kept quiet. "No? Well, I think I might have a lead."

Kaze decided to humor her. "And?"

"I heard rumors from the scouts. They said something about a temple north of us. There have been a lot of creatures moving away from it. And I…" Zala stopped herself, glanced around the empty roof and sky, then she whispered to Kaze, "... I think it might be related to what we're looking for."

Kaze doubted that. Zala didn't seem like the Toa to find answers, or do anything important other than stay in the shadows. Kaze hid his skepticism and looked away. "Did you ask the scouts?"

"I, uh, tried to. They wouldn't answer so I listened nearby… They were nice though."

"You were in shadows I presume."

"Yes… but not literally." Kaze rose a long eyebrow in surprise while Zala continued on in a quiet tone. "Some of these shadows… they're not right… I can't really move around like I want to… it's like they're hiding from me."

"I suppose you know that the best," Kaze murmured.

"Hmm, I guess I do!" Zala giggled, not taking the hint as she leaped through the treetops.

While flying behind Zala on his bow, Kaze begged for silence. Even a gust of wind he sent at Zala couldn't stop her from prattling on about the Jungle Tribesmen she had met. She even went on about that crazed recluse, Okil, and described how "strangely nice" he was. Then again, Zala probably saw Ruka's brother as a kindred spirit who loved darkness, completely oblivious of the treachery and mad schemes behind Okil's smiling eyes.

"How much farther?" Kaze asked.

Landing on another branch, Zala stopped her babbling to answer, "Just around here! We should be getting closer!" Her eyes glanced down, and she pulled out her scythe. "Oh, wait a minute!"

Kaze, stopping and floating, blinked to find Zala had disappeared. Had she found something? If so, where did she go?

"Ah, there you are!" Kaze heard Zala from below, and he flew down to find her.

After flying several feet down to the bottom, Kaze was disappointed by what he found. Instead of Zala discovering any artifact, she knelt by a crooked branch holding onto a tree by a thread. On it, a tiny, wingless insect barely dangled on with one leg. "Hey there, little guy. Here, let me help you out," Zala cooed at the tiny insect. She held out her scythe, catching the insect on the S-shaped rod.

"We don't have time for this," Kaze growled as he landed, annoyed to have his time wasted by something so mundane.

"Just a second. There!" Kaze rolled his eyes at Zala, who had delivered the insect safely onto another tree trunk that it could call home. "See! It didn't take long-"

Kaze's hand covered Zala's mask to silence her. Something was off. Kaze felt that and peered at jungle surrounding him and Zala with narrow eyes.

The Shadow Toa perked hers up in confusion and spoke blatantly through Kaze's hand. "There's nothing there," Zala whispered and almost jumped when Kaze whirled his crimson stare at her. "Uh, I mean, I don't think so..." she said while trying not to make eye contact.

Reluctantly, Kaze lowered his hand and turned away with a curious Zala following after him. "Why don't you say much?" Kaze said nothing, so she continued. "It would help you know. We are all in this together. It's like Rhem said, we're all Toa on a mission."

That struck a chord. Kaze remembered when they met, when that fool Voriki boldly proclaimed they should unite, and most importantly, when Protector Ferra showed them all her fragment of the Forbidden Mask. Kaze particularly recalled what a Toa of Iron had said upon seeing it, " _Amazing… and to think I was about to use my hammer on it._ "

"Don't lump me with the rest of you," Kaze told Zala. "Once this mission is over, things will go back to the way they were. There's no point in saying a thing."

Zala's pink eyes remained perked up. "Why not? It might help if we know each other a bit more. Besides, I think the two of us are a little alike in some way-"

 _ZAP!_

Kaze's energy arrow went past Zala and went for a green Skull Spider. It avoided the shot and jumped at Zala, who closed her eyes and gripped her shadowy scythe. Another arrow struck the Skull Spider dead center, putting an end to it.

Opening, Zala's eyes turned from the smoking spider to the glaring Kaze, who lowered his bow and growled. "Let me make one thing clear: you are _nothing_ like me. If you were, you would have noticed that spider following us and used your shadows to stop it."

"I-it doesn't work like that!" Zala defended herself with a quiver in her voice. "Like I said, the shadows are-"

"And I don't believe it." The edge in Kaze's voice made Zala winced. "You were able to move in the shadows before… only when you were hiding of course."

"I wasn't hiding!"

Kaze held in a snort but not his mocking tone. "You were when we first met. You were willing to let everyone fight your battles for you. I wonder why you were even sent to watch me."

"That's not true! Voriki sent us because-"

"He doesn't trust me. Not after what happened, and I can understand that," Kaze peered closer at Zala, "... but why use _you_? All I've seen you do is talk and hide. You didn't join your 'fellow' Toa of Light back then to defend your 'friend.' You weren't willing to do what needed to be done."

Zala stood up for herself. "You mean like what you were going to do to Rhem?!"

"Better than his powers falling into someone else's hands. But I guess you wouldn't know about anything about that, now would you?"

That caused a reaction. As Zala's tiny body shook, her shadow danced wildly in the grass. She gripped her scythe close to her body, unable to hold back against the swelling emotions. "I… I… Why are you acting like this? You don't even know me!"

"But I do. Your Toa of Time might not remember anything, but I certainly remember you." Kaze sneered. "You, hiding in the dark corners with your eyes shut, so no one else could hurt you."

Zala's feet took a few steps back to a tree trunk. "... I… I…"

"For all the power you possess, you were too scared to do anything." Kaze's red eyes blazed down at Zala. "You're no hunter. You're a _coward_."

At that last blow, Zala retreated into the shadows of the trunk.

Kaze rested his bow on his shoulder. "Good riddance," he muttered and went on his way.

* * *

Alone at last, Kaze took the silent skies with his bow and flew over the jungle. He found his destination, an enormous tree in an grassy clearing. When he landed, Kaze noted the several vines covering the tree from top to bottom. They almost looked veins pulsing with green energy. It was the temple, and Kaze found it within mere minutes, after all that time with Zala and her chatter.

"Some temple," Kaze muttered, twirling his hand and opening the doors with a breeze.

Stepping through the small creak in the doors, Kaze looked around. The hollowed-out insides of this temple were much like the out, the circular walls and thick roots covered in vines. Ruka told tales of each of the six fragments in the center of their element. Kaze believed it was true as the ancient power lingered in the air and left a trail for Kaze to follow.

So Kaze flew up, following the vines all the way to the center. There was no sign of danger, but there had been a sense that there had once been another presence long ago. After passing the several wooden branches that acted as walkways, Kaze landed atop a platform in the center, filled with large green crystals. His eyes peered at the vines entrapping the pedestal and what was on it.

Kaze's bow went _ZAP! ZAP! ZAP!_ His arrows snipped at the vines, unveiling a-

A mask. Not a golden fragment of one, but a full mask, dark and crooked-looking with fangs and slanted eyes on a narrow frame. Just what…?

Kaze's senses went on full alert. His bow again _zapped_ at a dark green vine creeping by his feet. He whirled around, firing at another vine...

Then, a third vine. Then, a fourth vine and fifth. Then, it was a whole swarm of vines creeping over the platform. It all too much for Kaze to fight against, as a vine went to his free hand. "What?!" He tried to pull away, but the vine had already cuffed his wrist and began to coil around his arm.

His other arm was still free. With it, Kaze fired at the foliage. Whatever had been destroyed, more came to wrap on the Air Toa. He would have fire some more, but more of those dark vines grabbed at his other limbs, trapping him in place and forcing his bow onto the floor of the platform. "Hrn!" Kaze grunted against his bindings. "What-what is this?"

Before he knew it, Kaze saw one of giant branches moved slowly, like any other. Then, it drifted apart from the other branches, revealing itself to be an insect with six stick-like legs to climb up the tree's inner walls. As it rose to the platform, the insect's green eyes glowed atop its ball-like head to glare up at the trapped Toa.

" **Impressive, isn't it?** " Kaze heard, but tell where it came from. The voice spoke from everywhere, yet nowhere, and it was… dark, dripping with menace.

Kaze again struggled and failed to free himself. When he failed, he tried to reach for his bow. That was when something appeared in front of him.

A flame, as dark as the vines that trapped Kaze, sparked to life, almost burning the Toa's hand. "GAH!" he screamed from the touch as smoke rose from his fingers.

From within the flame, a pair of menacing eyes glared and spoke. " **I think not** ," it said with that menacing voice. The eyes looked to their servant. " **Guardian, retrieve the mask.** "

At the flame's command, the large insect-the Jungle Guardian-moved one leg and grabbed the mask. Kaze, unable to move, was forced to watch the Guardian inspect its smaller prize, as well as the eyes in the dark flame lean closer to him.

The creature of shadow rumbled with curiosity, " **Hmm, so the Protectors have summoned you…** **I must say, you are an interesting Toa. You teem with hatred for your comrades. You failed to listen to your ally when she warned you of the shadows, and you fell in my trap for it. Out of the others, you have turned better than I had planned.** "

Zala's words from before rang in Kaze's mind, and the realization, and the guilt, struck him. ' _No_ ,' Kaze reminded himself of the task at hand. ' _There is no time for that_.'

He needed this dark thing to keep talking. He would then grab his bow and then free him-

" **No, I think not** ," said the formless creature again.

The shadowy vines extended around Kaze's hand, increasing the space between him and his bow. " **You must rethink your strategy, oh mighty Toa** ," the flame mocked.

Kaze glared, still holding his silence and not rising to take the bait. The eyes in the dark flame turned to the Jungle Guardian. " **Hmm, he was supposed to have retrieved my piece for me.** **I suppose I must bring him to complete the task.** " The eyes turned back to Kaze. " **As for you, Toa…** "

A new vine, as dark as the others that held Kaze in place, emerged from the Jungle Guardian and struck Kaze's mask off his face. As he watched his old mask fall over the platform, another of the Guardian's vines took the mask from the pedestal… all while the dark flame looked on with interest.

" **You call yourself a hunter… Perhaps, I shall give you a mask more befitting of your title…** "

The new mask was placed on top of Kaze's face. Darkness popped in the corners of his eyes, and all the Toa could do was to fight it with all his will.

Sadly, Kaze never stood a chance.


	10. Chapter 9: By the Sea Shore

"Was it a good idea for us to split up?"

After his spear swatted at a blue Skull Spider, Voriki shrugged at the Keela. "Not really, but it's not like we have a choice in the matter."

Down the Region of Water's shoreline, on the sands lit by the setting sun, the Toa of Iron's hammer went _THUD_ atop another Spider. "What about this new Toa?"

"Leave that to-wait a second." Channeling power into his spear, Voriki fired a crackling web of electricity at the crawlers approaching him. Once they were blown away, he continued, "Leave that to Maram. If what I've seen is right, then he can look after Rhem."

"Are you certain?"

"Well..." Voriki withdrew his spear from the sand, "... Maram won't try to attack him."

Keela's silence told Voriki she was satisfied enough. At least, he believed that. It was hard to get a reading on her. Then again, he had his own reasons for splitting up. After what he saw, he wanted to avoid anymore problems by keeping the more volatile Toa-namely Kaze-apart.

Keeping focused, Voriki grimaced at the Spiders between him and Keela. "Just where are these bugs coming from?" he grunted in annoyance.

"From the blue color," Keela's hammer _clanged_ three more times on three more targets, "the water, I suppose."

Voriki pushed aside the droll comment with the fourth Spider. "I can do without the humor. And I can handle this myself, you know. You didn't have to come along," he spoke up.

"I thought I should, especially with-" Keela paused to bash a Skull Spider from her foot, "-especially with my protector dropping her fragment here… She must trust yours if she's willing to do that." She paused again to glanced at her feet. "Speaking of which, catch!"

By the time Voriki whirled around, Keela kicked a Spider towards him. It latched onto his leg, and his eyes widened at the creature. "What-?" he said, distracted enough for the other Skull Spiders to crawl on him. "Hey, get off!"

The Spiders on Voriki's legs were three, then the number increased to five with more crawling up his body. They were already touching Voriki's torso when the Lightning Toa gripped his spear with both transparent hands. "Right! You asked for it!" he growled and channeled the electricity from his hands into his spear.

Again, Voriki stabbed into the ground. Unlike the previous short-ranged fizzle, the burst expanded around him and the surrounding sands, almost blocking out the sun on the horizon. The knowledgeable Keela backed onto a rocky growth on the beach, knocking any incoming Spiders towards the electrical bubble. Voriki, at the center of it, released volts of power against the crawlers on and around him, blowing them all away.

Any remaining Spiders sensibly scurried away back into the water or over the rocks. They didn't even notice a Toa of Iron studying the half-orb dissipate into the air. The irritated Toa of Lightning yanking his spear out of the scorched sand and glared at Keela. "You knew that would happen, didn't you?" he said in his frustration.

Keela shrugged nonchalantly, her lonely eye smiling. "I guessed."

If Voriki had anything to say, it was cut off by a scream. Keela whirled one-eighty agrees, her scope focusing at the source, and shouted, "There's someone over there!"

Voriki already bounded over the rock and past Keela, who rushed behind him.

The further they ran, the more they noticed old wreckage littered across the sands and waters. There, a young Water Okotan scurried her tiny body up the bow of a flipped ship, reaching the top to get away from a blue, scaly tentacle. Seeing the danger, Voriki looked over his shoulder to Keela. "Get to her! I'll hold it off!"

And Voriki leaped forward. Spear held high over his head, he swung it forward to shoot a bolt of lightning. It hit its mark, stunning it for a few seconds. That gave Keela enough time to run in and swat the tentacle away from its prey. Though successful, Keela held her hammer and told Voriki landing in front of her, "It's not done yet."

Keela was correct as the tentacle curled and lanced at the two Toa. Voriki put himself in the way, but didn't expect the tentacle to grab his spear. "Hrgh!" he shouted, trying and failing to free his spear as it was yanked from his hands. "Hey!"

Voriki was forced to dodge around his own spear now stabbing at the sand. Off to the side, Keela's free hand into the metal ship behind her. Peeling away a rusted rod, she ran to Voriki's side and shouted, "Use this!"

One hand tossed the rod to Voriki, and the hammer in the other swung away the spear. The tentacle slammed towards Keela to run her through, but the spear was blocked by the metal rod, held in Voriki's grasp. "That spear. Is. _Mine_!" he growled, and his yellow eyes sparked with his hands.

Voriki's lightning crackled up the makeshift rod to his spear. It dropped, and the odd tentacle reared back, unable to stand the electrical web traveling down its body. "It's damaged! Let's take it!" Voriki proclaimed, rushing to claim his victory.

"Wait!" Keela grabbed Voriki's arm, earning a curious glare from him.

Then, there was a sound. A _scream_ that forced the Toa to their knees and trying shield their sound receptors.

" _EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEKKKKKKK!_ "

The loud shrill passed, leaving Voriki and Keela to watch the tentacle retreat. As if being pulled, it slithered away, through and over the surrounding wreckage until it _plopped_ into the waters. Once it did, Voriki got to his feet to catch three more tentacles submerge as well, each identical to the one he just fought against.

Voriki drew his eyes from the distant waters to the other Toa. "You knew about that, didn't you?" he asked Keela in a low tone.

"Somewhat," was all she said, groggily getting to her own feet.

Having enough for one day, Voriki exchanged his rusted rod for his spear. By the time he scooped it into his hands did he notice the young Okotan he and Keela just saved. "Are you alright?" Voriki asked the little one walking up to him.

The Okotan's blue mask nodded and a tiny voice left it. "I-is it gone?"

Voriki glanced to the quiet ocean and answered, "Yeah… I think so." He looked down at the Okotan. "Just what were you doing out here?"

The Okotan hesitated, too shocked by the mighty Toa warrior. Voriki began to speak, but soon came the two Protectors of Water and Stone. "... what happened? We heard the screech and-" Torren said and stopped when he recognized the young Okotan. "Likki, is that you?"

"Yes," she said respectfully to her Protector. "I was scavenging when I was attacked. The attack is gone now."

"Hmph, looks like our Toa took care of it," Ferra jumped, kicking sand of the trail left by the tentacle. That earned a look from the shorter Likki. "Oh, don't mind me. I'm just visiting your Protector here. It's about our new Toa and trying to get them to work together. Guess that isn't really needed, though."

Likki kept staring, and Voriki swore her eyes narrowed. Torren came in the way of the unintimidated Ferra, looking down at Likki. "What you are doing here? You know it's too dangerous to be here-"

"I was scavenging, Protector." Likki answered with more courage. Her head quickly dipped a little. "I was looking for good materials… It's my parents' anniversary, and-"

"Say no more," Torren sighed. "You should return to Kivoda City. After you get some rest, I suggest to search somewhere _closer_ to the city."

"I'll help her to safety," Keela offered. "After what happened, she should have an escort."

"Good idea!" Ferra patted the surprised Likki's back. "She'll have the best protection in all Okoto!"

After shooting a second glare, Likki walked off with the hammer-wielding Toa by her side. When they were out of ear-shot, Ferra whispered sarcastically, "A nice one you have there, Torren."

"I apologize," Torren sighed yet again.

"Do you think she knows about the Stone fragment?" Voriki asked the Protector duo.

"I don't think she would," Torren affirmed, his hand on his mask's tired expression. "Only a few of my guards know about it. Even then, they were given the tiniest details."

Voriki looked around the rubble surrounding him, Torren, and Ferra. "But why come here? I don't see anything of worth. Just these old ships. It looks like a battle took place here."

"That's because it did," Ferra answered off to the side. "Back then, we were all working together against some invaders. Don't ask who as we never got to learn even their names."

"It must have been a terrible battle…"

"It was..." answered Torren, not Ferra, in a somber tone. His hand rested on one of the many ruined vessels. "... Likki's parents… they were among our many fallen warriors. It was why I never thought she would come here. For some, this place serves as a terrible reminder of the only time we were ever united in a single goal."

Before now, but Voriki didn't say it. "You must have been a strong leader to help your people through this," he said to Torren, hoping the words would encourage the blue Protector.

They did the opposite as Torren grew silent with Ferra. Voriki decided to question it later. For now, he merely waited for Keela to return, all the while keeping his eyes on the still ocean.

* * *

"So… you're a Toa?" asked Likki with a curious glint in her pale yellow eyes.

Keela's eye went down to the young Okotan. "Yes, I am," she replied warmly. "I suppose you've never seen one before."

"No one has. Not since five hundred years ago," Likki explained, almost skipping ahead of her Toa guard. "The stories say that the last time Toa were here, they helped protect Okoto from danger."

"Ah, from Makuta? Him and his Forbidden Mask?" Keela said after mentally rummaging through the tales she had heard from the Protectors.

"Yeah, but Makuta's been long gone..." Likki stopped ahead to turn, stopping Keela in her tracks. "Everyone, even the Protectors, say that you were summoned to bring the six tribes together. To unite us like we were centuries ago. Is that right?"

Keela hesitated for a second. She recognized the lie, along with little Likki's need for answers right away. So she thought her words before her scope stared into Likki's eyes. "I can't say for certain," Keela said carefully. "After all, my fellow Toa and I are not _your Toa_."

"Everyone says that too," Likki spoke up, sounding more innocent than her last question. "Just how many Toa are there? And not just you or our Toa. The legends say that you comes the stars above."

"That is very much true," Keela nodded. "You could say a star can represent one Toa."

"So… how many are there?"

"Well," Keela's eye smiled and her scope turned upward, "how many stars do you see?"

Likki's eyes widened in amazement as they looked up at the numerous stars now shining in the faintly dark sky above.

* * *

Far away, specifically further down Okoto's ruined shoreline, the sand of the Water Region shook from the Earth Guardian collapsing on it. Though its power leaked from its wound, the Guardian obeyed the command and crawled to reach the dirtied beach. Its head rested by its waiting master, tall as an Okotan and shrouded in a cloak.

The eyes under the hood noticed the giant purple crack in the Earth Guardian's chest. "What happened?" the master asked and placed a hand on the wound as a golden speck flashed under the hood.

Bonded with his servant, the master saw her in his mind; a grey Toa with a hammer.

He drew his hand away. He had seen the arrival of the six Toa. He had planned for it, after all. He thought they would argue amongst themselves like their Protectors. He never imagined this would happen.

Just then, the master noticed a blue Skull Spider crawling up to him. "Report," he ordered, his golden mask shining again.

The spider clicked its mandible. A telepathic image appeared in its master's mind to show six figures departing the City of the Mask Makers. The master's voice rumbled. "So, the Toa have begun their search… And Ferra's piece of the mask?" The spider shook its head. "Watch the Toa and report back to me. I will head to the Jungle Region once I am done."

The Skull Spider bowed and returned into the water. The master then turned to stare at something. It was the spires of Kivoda City, lying there in the distance. Even though he was so far away, he could still see them gleaming in the dim sunlight.

Suppressing the memories, he clenched his fist with determination. "Worry another time," he told himself when he heard another groan. Reminded of his Guardian, the master pulled out a hammer and addressed his prone servant. "Patience. You only need to lie there."

The Earth Guardian soon cried as the hammer, glowing with blue energy, repeatedly slammed on the wound and began to repair it.


	11. Chapter 10: Refraction

"How… much… _farther_?!" Rhem could only ask over the howling wind. His hands were in front to protect his eyes from the blizzard, only able to see the shining light walking ahead.

"Not far!" the glowing Maram called over his shoulder. "If your Protector is right… then we should… find the piece in this storm!"

Rhem groaned. His cold 'Protector' instructed him and Maram to begin searching for one of the six pieces of this so-called Forbidden Mask. Hunarr suggested to find anything strange like snow storms or ice formations. Even though the land was covered in them, the two Toa soon enough found the giant swirl of cold wind and snowflakes in the middle of a clear and sunny tundra. Traversing it was, of course, hard, since Rhem could only drag his feet in the snow.

Maram, heaving his giant body forward, suddenly shouted, "I see something! Be ready!"

A second later, Rhem thought the Toa of Light grew brighter. He soon realized there was another light. In the distance, it was no smaller than a speck, but it flashed in the blizzard brightly and casted its golden light atop Maram's pale body.

"Young Rhem-!"

"On it!" Rhem acknowledged and focused on the light.

The snow and wind slowed, yet Rhem didn't breathe any easier. He kept his eyes forward, hoping to not lose focus and let the snow hit him like that ball did three days ago. His steps were steady, not too slow or too fast. Walking around the stiff and slow-moving Maram, Rhem approached the light.

Even though time was delayed, the snowflakes that hung in mid-air made it hard for Rhem to clearly see the light. And the closer he got to his target, the thicker snow grew. Rhem managed to get through the worst of it, wiping his hands at the snow and squinting his eyes at the gleaming metal at epicenter of the blizzard. The thing lying on the frosty ground looked like the piece that brown Protector Ferra had shown the other Toa.

Rhem almost tripped when he bent down to pick up the piece of the Forbidden Mask. "Wooh, too close," he sighed in relief as he fortunately regained his footing and scooped the golden metal in his hands.

Unfortunately, time slipped through his control again.

The full force of the blizzard flung Rhem off his feet. "GAH!" he screamed and closely held his fragment while being blown aside.

He was not sure how long he had been flying around before he hit a familiar giant. "Fear not, I have you!" Maram shouted, and he dragged himself, a dazed Rhem, and another shard of the Forbidden Mask out of the blizzard.

* * *

Maram released his hold on Rhem once they had left the blizzard. After dimming his power, he fell on his knees and took in the light from the faint morning sun in the cloudy sky above. "How do you feel?" Maram asked Rhem lying next to him and groaning into the snow.

"Dizzy…"

"And the fragment?"

Still groaning, Rhem raised a hand to produce the piece. Maram nodded and praised his fellow Toa, "You have done well, but our work isn't finished yet."

"Yeah, I know," Rhem said as he slowly stood up. "We have, what, six of these to look for?"

"Three now." Maram too rose and walked back to Izotor's Glacier.

Rhem, walking beside Maram, looked at the Ice fragment in his hands. "Hard to imagine this little thing could do all that back there," Rhem commented, referring to the blizzard the two escaped from.

"True power can sometimes come from the most unexpected places," Maram replied, eyes forward.

"You mean like me and my power, right?" Rhem asked, aware of the uncomfortable shift in Maram's walk. "What's the big deal, anyway? Why was it so bad for me to say who I am to the other Toa?"

Maram hesitated for a second. "I believe it is because they are afraid. As for why," he said before a confused Rhem could, "there has not been a Toa of Time."

"You mean not in a while?"

"I'm afraid _not_ _ever_."

Rhem's feet halted in the snow. Maram too stopped to face him, his hand atop his broad chest. "We Toa represent our elements," he explained to Rhem, "thus we carry them within us. It also makes us a target for anyone who wants our power. That alone is dangerous, even more so for one who represents time, an element that no known Toa had ever wielded."

It took Rhem a few moments to gather his thoughts. "So… what does that mean for the others? You seem to have my back and that shadow girl is nice, but…"

Suddenly, the calm and cold plains of the Ice Region rumbled. A distant cloud drew nearer and nearer to the Toa's location. Rhem, unsure of what it was, placed the Ice fragment on his hip. Maram readied himself, and his orange eyes narrowed seeing a group of boulders, moving as if they had their own will.

And on their own will, the boulders circled around the two Toa.

Rhem's eyes widened. "What the-?!"

"On your guard, young Rhem!" Maram shouted as one boulder launched itself at him. In one motion, he drew his sword from his back and slapped away the boulder with it.

That boulder hit the ground, rolling away with the others before they all came together. The smaller ones joined with the biggest boulder, stacking atop each other form legs, then arms. The new being rose up, standing as tall as Maram, and yellow eyes shone from its round head.

"One of the Guardians," Maram noted aloud, his broadsword raised. "By the looks of it, it is the Stone Guardian."

"But what is it doing here?" Rhem started, but the Guardian had charged, stomping its way to the unanswered Toa.

Maram blocked the Stone Guardian's with his sword. Ball-like fists struck the blade's flat end as two loud _CLANGS_ rang off it. Maram, pressing his sword against Guardian's fists, pushed forward with a loud grunt. The Stone Guardian retaliated by pushing back, which put the two opponents in a stalemate. "Young Rhem!" Maram called.

Not a second later, Rhem leaped over to the Stone Guardian's side and kicked it. His foot collided with the massive boulder-esque body. The Guardian only reeled back a little, and Rhem was left with an aching foot. "Ow, ow, _ow_! That hurt!" the Time Toa cried while holding his foot.

Rhem's efforts had been enough for Maram to break the lock between himself and the Guardian. Maram punched the same spot where Rhem kicked. The force behind his fist sent the boulder monster skidding back by several feet.

"We can't stay here for long," Maram breathed. "There must be a weakness for this Stone Guardian."

Rhem, placing his foot down, commented, "You know, we really should come up with a better name-"

The Stone Guardian charged again. The two Toa moved out of the way, and each one flanked their enemy. Maram swung his sword, and it dug into the Stone Guardian's back. The Guardian stopped in its tracks, trying to hold against the full blow.

"Now!" Maram shouted, and a roaring Rhem struck at the immobile Guardian with his tiny sickle.

 _Clink_.

Rhem's eyes widened at the Guardian's unscathed belly. "What-oof!""

An arm of boulders cut Rhem off, swatting him aside. He flew, his back hitting and sliding on the snow. The Guardian swung its other arm at Maram, forcing the Light Toa to part with his sword as he staggered back to Rhem's side. "Are you alright?" Maram asked.

Rhem groaned while standing on his legs. "Yeah, I think I'll live. Any ideas?"

Maram glanced at Stone Guardian. "Can you use your powers?" he asked, and Rhem nodded. "Then try to use them. Find its weakness and take it down. I will act as a distraction."

Leaving a confused Rhem behind, Maram rushed forward and channeled his power into his fists. The Stone Guardian met his charge, copying the Toa by pulling its own arms back. Then, the two forces both threw their punches with stone meeting light.

A bright _FLASH_ and a resounding _BOOM_ went across the frozen tundra. Then, the fists met again, making another _FLASH_ and _BOOM_. Then another, and another, and another from the great blows exchanged in between the Toa of Light and the Stone Guardian, leaving only an astonished Toa of Time on the sidelines. Fists struck each other, but both combatants stood their ground and weathered the punches, testing to see which would last longer.

Of the two, the Guardian had lost its contest of brute strength as Maram's right fist collided with its shoulder. When it skidded back, Maram gave chase and delivered a left hook, then a right hook. The Guardian could only block the first, and the second struck dead center of its chest. Maram took advantage of his opponent's surprise, if it had any, and grabbed one long arm.

"GRAAAAHH!" Maram roared.

Hurled over the Toa's shoulder, the mouthless and stone-faced war machine _slammed_ into the ground. The Guardian on the ground, Maram diverted his eyes away. "Now is your chance!" he shouted to the astonished Rhem…

… unaware of a boulder-like fist that nearly struck the chin of his mask, knocking it off.

"Maram!" Rhem called to the unmasked Toa, now grasping his empty face with a large hand.

In Maram's confusion, the prone Stone Guardian separated into its individual parts. One after the other, the smaller boulders knocked into the giant Toa. An "oof!' and a "gah!" left Maram as he was left powerless against the onslaught and fell flat on his back.

The boulders stopped when a familiar sickle _chinked_ into the ground between them and Maram. They all turned to Rhem, waving at them. "Hey, over here! You want this, right?" he called, patting the fragment on his hip.

Now, the boulders rushed at him. Rhem stood there, focused on the uncertain death marching at him…

In a blink of an eye, he was gone, and the boulders rushed past where Rhem once stood. They turned around to find him by Maram's side, having already snatched up the giant's mask. "Here!" Rhem said, returning Maram his mask and facing the boulders again.

Between them and uncertain death laid Maram's sword, unbroken and undamaged. Rushing forward, Rhem ducked under one boulder for the sword. He couldn't wield it, but he knew it would help. He just needed to each it… just… a little… further…

"Got it!" Rhem proclaimed, and with all his strength, he raised the sword off the ground, just in time for a boulder to skid on and fly off the blade's side.

A third boulder was thwarted by the might of Maram, his arms holding the rock back and his mask gleaming proudly. "Close your eyes!" He shouted, and Rhem did that.

Light from Maram engulfed the entire area in one last _FLASH_. The boulders shuddered where they were. Rhen, eyes still shut, heard Maram's roar and the loud _crash_ of one boulder on another. Panic rose in the Toa of Time who reached out to touch Maram.

Before Maram knew it, Rhem pulled him away, and they were both gone with the flash of light.

* * *

Far away from the Stone Guardian, where the sharp tips of Izotor's Glacier poked into the sky like arrows, a white-clad Okotan of the Ice Tribe was surprised to find two Toa warp in front of him. His dull duties as a guard heated with excitement, he called to his colleagues up on top of the frozen and blocky gates. "The Toa have returned! The Toa have returned!"

Said Toa remained where they were, both only realizing their new surroundings. Of them, Rhem let go of the broadsword and collapsed on his hands and knees. "I think… we're safe…" he breathed.

"For now," Maram sheathed his blade on his back. He tore his orange gaze from the distant horizon from whence they came. "I was unaware you could do that."

"Yeah, I'm surprised too," Rhem breathed heavily. "I just… I just wanted to get us out of there… and I…"

"You did good, young Rhem. Is the piece safe?" Rhem nodded and silently showed it, to Maram's relief. "Good. Then we can return to your Protector."

Rhem stood with a groan. "Yeah… I don't think he would like to hear us getting almost beaten by a Guardian."

"It is unavoidable," Maram sadly agreed. "But I believe the greater concern for you is your power."

"Huh? What do you mean?" Rhem blinked.

"Remember what I had said before on your element? Considering your situation, you are more like a newborn when compared to the rest of us. You are unsure how to handle your powers. Our battle with the Stone Guardian proved that. I believe that is why Voriki sent me with you... to see how you will cope." Maram rested a hand on the shoulder of a down-cast Rhem. "Do not worry, young Rhem. I may not have known you or Voriki for long, but I believe he sees your potential."

Rhem sighed. "I wish that Kaze guy thought the same."

"Ah." Maram removed his hand. "I would not worry too much. Warriors like Kaze may be hard to pierce, but he will adapt. He must if we are to work together. All you need to do is… well..."

"... just give him _time_?"

As the gates parted from each other, Maram's eyes smiled slightly at the unavoidable pun.


	12. Got Sick and Delay in Schedule

Hello there. You may have noticed I didn't follow my biweekly update and publish the next chapter on Saturday (8/17/2019). To sum it up: a caught a bad bug that almost knocked me out on Thursday, and I was so dehydrated to the point I had to go to the emergency room on Friday. The weekend was spent with me resting at home. So yeah, not exactly a good time.

I'm taking time off from work this week to completely recover (I got a doctor's slip for that), and I probably won't be touching this story for a bit. If I ever do update, I might do so in a couple of weeks.

Sorry to keep you guys waiting like this but hopefully I can work on more chapters in the meantime (at least when I'm at 100%). Until then, take care.

Raika out.


	13. Chapter 11: Chasing Shadows

**AN: Hello, everyone! I am alive and I am back (for now). Like I said in my last update, I had been in the hospital and was healing up a bit. Because of that, work, and other stuff in real life, I have been trying to catch up on writing all my stories. I have been able to do so with this one, so hopefully I can move a bit forward.**

 **With that out of the way, I hope you enjoy this!**

* * *

Zala liked the shadows. They were the one place where she could be alone, where no one could find her. Whenever she had been inside a shadow, it felt like being inside of a calm ocean… or a nice breeze.

One such breeze swirled in front of Zala and whispered to her: " _... coward…_ "

Zala clasped her hands over her ears and closed her eyes shut to the ghostly image of Kaze's glaring mask. It was the latest of the many whispers and curses she had encountered since entering the Jungle Region. After her "argument" with Kaze, she traveled all over the area, going from one shadow to the next until she at last came into the ink-colored realm and found a place of peace.

" _... coward…_ " the image spoke again, repeating what Kaze had said and interrupting Zala's peace again.

Within her hidden realm, Zala floated southward, or what could have been south. To search for the fragment, she went away from the memory and from wherever Kaze was. He no doubt conducted his own search, after finding what probably was a dead end on Zala's lead. The memory of Kaze sadly caught up with Zala as she tried to leave.

" _... coward… coward… coward… coward…_ "

"Please _stop…_ " Zala begged, trying to shut out the memory with all her might.

Suddenly, there came a call. It was muffled, but the Toa swore she heard, " _... Zalaaa!_ " and she opened her eyes and looked up.

At the roof of her sanctuary, forms of two Okotans converged to form a massive blob. A curious Zala pushed herself upward to the flat blob. Upon closer inspection, it stood out from the spindly and curving lines-the trees of the normal world. Zala poked her head through the blob, and her eyes were filled with the bright and colorful gaze of Okoto's Jungle Region.

Her head sticking out of the shadow, Zala looked up at the two green Jungle Tribesmen. "... Toaaaaa! Toa Zalaaa!" a female scout called to the open jungle, unaware of Zala in her shadow.

Equally unaware, a fellow scout sighed, his mask clear in the dim sunrays. "We're wastin' time. She ain't here."

"Well, we'd looked elsewhere," said the first scout, to the annoyance of her groaning compatriot.

The two scouts begrudgingly walked forward, and Zala carefully moved with their shadow, hesitant to say anything yet. "So, how long 'till we find her?" asked the second scout.

"No idea, but she's gotta hear the news," the first answered, sparing a glance to the second. "You tell her."

"Nuh-uh! I ain't tellin' her!" said the second.

"Well, someone's tellin' her 'bout Kaze. And if we can't find her, then we've got two Toa missin'!"

From her hiding spot, Zala blinked her eyes. Kaze was missing? No, he could have been keeping to himself, as he saw himself as the "lone hunter." He had to be searching somewhere else for the piece of Makuta's Forbidden Mask. Zala thought that to be true, but she began to think otherwise as she submerged into her private plane of existence, away from the light of the real world. There, the memory of Kaze greeted her, " _... coward…_ "

Zala's eyes drooped, and she turned away from the memory. "He's fine," she murmured to herself. "He should be fine…"

Doubt plagued Zala's mind. As much as she tried to put it aside, Zala was confronted by what the two scouts had said. It grew, forming into questions Zala wouldn't have asked, especially after what Kaze called her.

Behind her, the memory spoke again. " _... coward…_ "

Was Kaze really alright? If so, the other scouts have noticed him. They wouldn't have to search for Kaze, right? If that was the case, then was Zala the last person to have seen him, and wouldn't only she know where Kaze could possibly be? The Toa of Air was so sure of himself that he would try to find a piece alone, but he couldn't have disappeared completely-

" _... coward…_ "

"Ugh!" Zala groaned, glaring at the memory. "Stop that!"

" _... coward…_ " the memory merely replied, glaring back with Kaze's eyes.

To shut out the taunt, Zala sped off to look for Kaze. Unable to catch up, the memory faded into nothingness.

* * *

Zala didn't have to look far for Kaze. She went up and down her realm, swimming-or something like swimming-around the upside-down forms that mimicked trees and grass. Those were the portals back into the real world, but Zala was looking for a different one. She soon found it: a giant circle above with transparent waving shapes inside.

Zala approached one of those shapes, and her eyes peered at the hollowed inside of an enormous tree. She recognized it as the temple she had told Kaze about. Then, she only had a good look from the outside. Now, she saw so many branches and moss all over the inner walls.

And a familiar green mask on a shaded floor.

Zipping to the shadow closest to the mask, Zala scooped it up in her hands while she rose from the temple floor, her eyes studying the thing. It was Kaze's alright, but Zala was sure he came here over a day ago. What was it still doing here?

Curious, Zala flipped the mask and brought a free finger into its shadowy insides…

 _-within the flame, a pair of menacing eyes glared-_

Zala let go, and the mask clattered at a gasping Toa's feet. The empty eyeholes stared back. A shiver trailed down Zala's back. "What…?" she wondered, eyeing her surroundings.

There was something wrong. The air was oddly still, filled with a dreadful stench. Zala had felt it before, when she had been cursed in her own realm. All of it trailed from the opened door up the walls to the high platform, which had been covered in vines. Unlike regular green vines on the wall, these had a darkened hue.

Then, was a sudden shudder. Taking the mask again and placing it on her hip, she rushed outside. Flocks of urdaks flew over the distant trees, their shadows passing over the temple and heading away from something.

Before Zala could ask what, a low bellow answered her unspoken question. It was a pained cry, not from an urdak, but a creature far massive… like a giant tortoise.

"No!" Zala gasped in realization, and she sunk into the shadows once more.

* * *

The speed of darkness wasn't as fast as the speed of light, but it was fast enough for Zala. Upon her arrival, she jumped out of a tent's slim shade and found the entire village slanted to one side. Her feet wobbled atop the hardened tortoise shell upon which the Jungle Tribe rested, and her eyes widened at the sight around her.

Along with the screaming, vines spread everywhere. They ran across the shell and over several stacks of demolished tents. The ends of the vines spiraled in gangrene-colored lines that wrapped over and trapped several, wigging figures. One of them, a female of the Jungle Tribe, screamed, "Help! Heeeelp!"

"Hold on!" Zala called back.

Zala's feet, running forward, almost slid down the slope of the giant shell, and her hands yanked the scythe from her back, gripping its bottom half. In an overhead swing, Zala brought the scythe down on the vine, and the freed Okotan then fell onto the ground with her legs still trapped. "Sorry!" Zala exclaimed in worry.

"I'm fine, Toa," said the female, who then pointed at her trapped Tribesmen, "but the others-!"

Zala, turning her head, noticed the eyes of more Okotans trapped in the thick vegetation. "On it!" and Zala ran down the Vizuna Tortoise's slanted shell again, dragging the scythe behind her. In one, lumbering motion, the crescent blade freed two Tribesmen. Going in the other direction and back, it freed two, then three more. All of those Tribesmen fell on the hardened shell, shouting in discomfort.

After freeing the trapped Tribesmen, Zala turned. Her eyes went around to find any sign of attacking vines, only to find none. Instead, there were other Okotans, family and friends coming to the aid of their loved ones. Some in front, in shredded garbs of the Jungle Tribe's scouts, stopped, having recognized the Toa in front. "You… you're…" said one scout in shock.

Zala perked up and leaned on her scythe. "Oh, um, hello, there!" She waved a free hand and called loudly to the crowd gathering around. "Is everyone alright?!"

"We're fine, Toa," grunted from behind. It was a Tribesman whom Zala had freed and who glared at the scouts. "No thanks to them."

"We tried stoppin' it!" cried a scout, tired and all beaten up like the rest.

"And ya failed! You didn't do a thin'!" cried back another formerly-trapped Okotan.

"Um, please everyone!" Zala called out again to the crowd, hoping to diffuse the tension. "Do you have any healers? There might be some people who need help!"

To her relief, the civilians scattered around, some reuniting and others searching for anymore casualties. The scouts, about to do the same, jumped at the Toa approaching them. "What happened here?" Zala asked in concern.

The scouts shivered at the Toa and her scythe towering over them. One was brave enough to answer, his voice stuttering, "Um… well… we dunno… we've been guardin' when those vines appear… Thought I'd seen them 'fore."

"Where is your protector?"

"... gone," said another. "She's s'pposed to be back from those soot-brains by the end o' today."

"Where about her brother?" Asking that, Zala leaned in closer, oblivious to the scouts' discomfort. She was more concerned for Okil, Ruka's brother whom she fondly remembered.

A third scout was about to reply, but something else spoke to Zala. Whispers that only she heard in her realm. " _... and be done with him…_ "

Rising, Zala's wide eyes blurred towards the direction of the whispers. "I have to go!" she proclaimed, putting her scythe on her back and diving into the shadows of the gathered-and gasping-scouts.

In the ink-colored realm, Zala zoomed like a purple shooting star. Her gaining speed allowed her to move around erratically shaking portals that were once calmly still. Nothing about this place was calm or still, not anymore, but that didn't stop Zala. In seconds, she had stretched across the oval-shaped expanse that was the Vizuna Tortoise's shadow.

It was at what should have been the head, where the surrounding leafy and twig-like silhouettes had turned jagged, Zala heard it. " _... wasting yer time…_ " a voice said, snapping Zala to one of the shapes above her.

Poking her head through a thin, yet tall-looking shadow, Zala spotted the spindly, wooden legs of a six-limbed monstrosity. It stood tall atop the Vizuna Tortoise's pointed snout, which had been muzzled by more sickly-colored vines. Thanks to the oversized insect's outstretched shadow, Zala was at a safe distance to see it command another vine gripping, a familiar dark-green and legless Okotan, into the air.

"Don't make this harder, Okil," said the calm and cloaked figure in front of the towering insect. "Where are the rest?"

Okil laughed while the vine hanged him upside-down. "Think I'll just tell ya?!"

Okil's interrogator shook his hooded head. "Okil, you can't think to keep the fragments-"

"Better with me than you!" Okil spat with the same wit that once made Zala laugh days ago.

Zala couldn't laugh now, not when the Vizuna Tortoise rumbled a painful groan. The hooded one calmly stepped on the beast's trapped head. "I won't ask again. You have spies in the Ice Region. They told you about the Toa finding a fragment there, which won't be far from my grasp soon enough. And they helped you find _this_ ," he breathed a low breath and held his hand high for Okil to see the shining metal it held.

Zala's eyes widened at the Forbidden Mask's Jungle fragment, in the hooded one's hand. "What…?" Zala gasped, but she reeled back into her realm, hoping no one had heard her.

Someone did. And that someone-a sparking dark flame-appeared _inside_ Zala's realm.

Within the flame, a pair of menacing eyes glared. " **No...** "

Zala's hands went for the scythe, but the fire came at her first. Swarming and engulfing every inch of the Toa's armor, the flames didn't burn. Their freezing touch was just as effective as was the uncontrollable terror rising inside of Zala. Overwhelmed, she tried to move. No, she couldn't be scared! She had to fight! She had to do _something_!

Sadly, Zala could do nothing. Nothing except let the fire fling her out and up into the air of the real world. First, she went from the Vizuna Tortoise's head, then into the blue sky where a green blur carried the hooded one, and fell on the green trees with a loud _CRASH_.

For a long time, Zala did nothing other than lay on the treetops. Forced in unconsciousness, she didn't know how much time had passed. Her vision was full of the dark flame that expelled her from her realm. Her hearing only caught the whispering curses, and she wished they would stop.

"... Toa, y'hear me?" Zala heard at last, the question stirring her from her tormenting sleep.

Feeling the supporting treetops under her, Zala groaned and creaked her eyes. She barely noticed the sun was way past its zenith. How much time had passed? And what happened? "Who…?" Zala whispered to the light-green mask hovering over her.

"It's me, Ruka," said the Jungle Protector, an urdak head poking over her shoulder. "We saw the Tribe and found ya here. What happened?"

Eyes snapped open, Zala's shaking hands grabbed Ruka's arms. Memories of the hooded one and the dark flame flooding back, she sputtered, "Have to go! Danger! W-we have to-"

"It's 'kay. Everyone's safe, you're safe," Ruka told Zala calmly, holding up Kaze's familiar mask. "See. We've even got Kaze's mask, thanks to ya. We find him and-"

"No, no!" A delirious Zala, shaken with terror, shook her head. "Region of Ice… They're coming…"

And Zala could say nothing more, having let go of Ruka. Before sleep claimed the Toa of Shadows again, she heard Ruka shout with the utmost urgency, "... get the other Toa! _NOW_!"


	14. Chapter 12: Opposing Forces

_"Trouble to Ice Region. You need to go there, now!"_

That had been Ruka's message when she arrived with an unconscious Zala on her urdak. While Ruka took Zala away to be healed, an alerted Keela quickly departed with Voriki. In minutes, they and their protectors left, the former two expecting to ride on urdaks for this urgent mission.

The gigantic turbine in front roared, pulling the airship past several clouds. Compared to the days of sand, the complex machinery amazed Keela. If not for Water Protector's concerning silence, Keela would've asked him how the airship stayed afloat on a balloon and an engine. On her left, the Stone Protector groaned into her hand, "Oh… I _really_ don't like flying."

"Protectors, Izotor's Glacier is within sight!" announced one Water Okotan at the controls.

"Finally," Keela heard Voriki huff while they and their Protectors went for the large window in front.

Though so far, their destination shone like a tiny star on the horizon. With the deep-blue afternoon sky overhead, it seemed peaceful. Keela's mask, though, caught something off. It wasn't with Izotor's Glacier. It was a tiny outpost covered in black smoke.

Keela's scope zoomed in on the smoking ice structure. "There's something below," she explained. "A couple klicks due west."

Voriki called, "You heard her. Take us down there. I'll be by the hatch."

The few Okotans piloting the airship obeyed, albeit a bit hesitant. Keela paid attention to the gears and handles being pulled, things Voriki turned away from as he went for the exit in the back. Keela would have joined him if her lens hadn't caught something else through the window. Both it and her other eye widened at two large white objects approaching at high speeds.

"We have incoming!" Keela shouted over her shoulder, and the cry of " _Evasive maneuvers!_ " rang from a pilot.

In one minute, the airship swerved to its left, and a block of ice the size of a glacier, came into view. In the next, the airship _shook_ from the loud _CRACK_ and _RING_ on its very nose. Bits of ice and broken window glass fell into the shuddering hull, and all the passengers slid right until they fell on the wall. "H-Hey! Get off!" Ferra said, pushing Torren off.

"Calm yourselves!" Voriki said, his voice not practicing what he preached in the slightest. "Keela, you're a Toa of Iron?"

Keela grabbed the two Protectors in her arms, setting them behind her in case of an attack. "Yes, but I can't patch up the ship now! I need to get outside!"

"We don't have that luxury-get down!"

Keela, the pilots, and the Protectors did as a large boulder came into view, bounding for Toa and company in the main hull. Voriki thrusted his spear forward, and a beam of lightning shot through the broken window. It cracked for a single precious second, then shattered into pebbles at the last minute, pelting the Okotans and Toa.  
"We have to land NOW!" Ferra shouted over the rockfall and the desperate whines of the damaged ship. "Torren, somebody, grab the controls!"

"We can't! The controls are destroyed!" shouted Torren, pointing to the now-misshapen steering wheel.

"Incoming!" Keela shouted at another inbound block of ice. Throwing her arms out, she raised up a metal barrier from the damaged controls and the floor before her and everyone. All save for Voriki who rushed in front. "Get behind my shield!" Keela shouted.

"I'll be fine!" Voriki said and fired another electrical beam.

Voriki wasn't fine after the flying glacier shattered a few meters away from his face. Ice shards would've flung him into the makeshift shield if he hadn't stabbed his spear down. After Keela kept herself and the others safe, she was about to rush to Voriki's side when-

 _SHKUNKSSHHH!_

The immediate hissing sound following the crash told everyone that the balloon, the only thing holding the ship aloft, had burst.

Gravity pulled on the airship, Keela's sense of time slowed down, and multiple thoughts sloshed like quicksilver around her mind. Fear and paranoia, mainly, but also a faint hope. Was Voriki okay? Hopefully. Would they survive the crash? Most definitely. Would anyone be hurt

Not on her watch.

Retracting her barrier, Keela shouted, "Everyone, stand back!" As everyone did, Keela bent down and put a hand to the shaking floor, ripping a large sheet of metal from it. "Get on!"

"Are you crazy?! Do you really think we can ride on-hey what are you doing?!" Ferra shouted at her Toa, who scooped her up in one arm. Torren hopped onto the sheet, and the pilots joined a second later.

With the two Protectors and pilots in tow, Keela first hammered the hatch away. Then, she began to run forward on the sheet, creating a platform for herself as she ran into the open and chilled air. She ran a few more meters away from the falling ship before tilting her hand downward, turning the platform into a slide of sorts. One by one, the Okotans slid down to the relative safety of the Region of Ice and the ground shook when the slide collapsed on it. "Is everyone alright?" Keela asked, the last one to land.

"Ugh… I _hate_ flying!" said a nauseous Keela, hunched over on the ice with the pilots.

"Where is Voriki?!" Torren asked while getting to his feet. His answer came when the airship _CRASHED_ near the outpost, almost a quarter of a mile away. "No!"

"Protector, wait!" Keela said and held Torren back from an incoming stream of water.

The stream passed, and all eyes trailed to where it came from. Something blocked the way to the outpost. That something was water, copious amounts swirling around those in its center. Keela's body tensed, and her scope zoomed on its targets. "We have company," she warned.

"Guardians?" Ferra asked.

Indeed, it were. Two more Elemental Guardians, Stone and Water, standing side-by-side in the maelstrom. The boulder monster sent up chunks of ice with its feet. Those chunks were turned into water, left to the control of eight long, scaly tentacles of the other Guardian-tentacles that also carried a slender upper torso and spherical head forward. With glowing slits and bulbous orbs glaring back, their intentions were all too obvious.

"Stay here!" Keela said and rushed into battle, one hand on her hammer while the other telekinetically threw her makeshift slide at the Guardians.

* * *

A distant _clang_ awoke Voriki to a reality of white ice. Groaning, he slowly stood up on the ice and found the gigantic airship. A few meters away, the front rested, all scrunched up and scarred so badly as if it caved in on itself. Good thing Voriki dove out of the window first before anything could crush him.

Another _clang_ turned Voriki attention from the wreckage. His eyes widened at a gigantic squid and a boulder monster bashing away a large sheet of metal. Voriki was more interested to see Keela, a tiny dot rushing at what he rightly guessed were two Elemental Guardians. She deflected a water whip easily, but Voriki tensed and went for his spear…

… which was inside the airship, he realized. However, it didn't mean he couldn't improvise, so he held his hands behind and channeled his power into them.

That power released in a loud _CRACKA-BOOM_ and rocketed Voriki across the ice. The white landscape blurred, and blue lightning crackled behind the purple Toa. He wasn't sure how much time went by, but it wasn't long before he fully saw Keela bounce a string of boulders off her hammer. She couldn't block a stream of water pouring on her.

Another _CRACKA-BOOM_ from Voriki's hands had him come closer to see Keela throwing her hammer at the Stone Guardian. Another brought him ten meters from it and the Water Guardian, the latter turning to face him. "Hey! Remember me?!" shouted the speeding bullet named Voriki, remembering the very monster whom almost stole his spear days ago.

Voriki immediately thrusted his hands under him. The electrical burst shot him over two lashing tentacles, and he soared over the Water Guardian. His eyes would've grinned if they didn't notice Keela's hammer bouncing off the Stone Guardian's round belly. Seeing the urgency, Voriki landed and slid back on the slippery ice. He went by a surprised Stone Guardian and stopped right beside Keela who caught her hammer and said, "I'm glad you joined me. I could use the help!"

"Well, I didn't really like being left behind," Voriki shot back at his fellow Toa.

"I believed you would be alright," Keela said and went to the left, avoiding a tossed boulder.

Voriki went right to dodge tentacle meant for him, and the two Toa slid around their respective Elemental Guardians. The Stone Guardian had disassembled itself, just like Voriki remembered reading in Maram's letter, and each part rolled after Keela. Voriki came to a halt, ducking under several tentacles of flesh and water from the Water Guardian. He might not have seen his enemy in full form the first time, but he remembered how it acted and prepared himself for another blow. "Is that all you got?!" Voriki challenged.

The eternally-drenched Guardian took him up on the challenge. Collecting the water on its body, it spat out two wet balls the size of Voriki's head. The Toa of Lightning dodged to one side then the other to avoid them, all while channeling lighting into his fists. He threw one bolt back, and it zoomed past his Guardian to hit one of the boulders chasing Keela.

A thunderous _boom_ echoed, and a snowy cloud rose over the distracted Guardians. On its edge, Voriki powered up a larger bolt into his hands. "Catch!" he called and drew the bolt back.

Another wet ball hit Voriki squarely in the chest. The water spreading all over, and the wind knocked out of him, the surprised Toa let go of his bolt. He barely saw Keela batting away a boulder with her hammer. He only saw the bolt turn into dozens of sparks. And they all landed onto his soaked armor.

The water conducted the lightning into Voriki, electrocuting his entire body. For a Toa of Lightning, it wouldn't have been a problem, and it wasn't. Voriki fought against the sudden surge. It took all he had to suck the electricity into his very being, and he fell on his knees from the strain. Even then, past the searing fire pulsing inside him, Voriki could feel his muscles lock and stiffen from the reaction, his ribs contracting against his will.

With this much power, Voriki couldn't just release. Not without charring his own body in the process. His spear had previously been a focus. Without it, he was left defenseless against the Water Guardian approaching him.

"VORIKI!" Keela shouted, catching Voriki's attention. In the distance, she swatted aside the last of the Stone Guardian's boulders. Then, she threw something past the unsuspecting Water Guardian and towards him.

Wait. Not just something. Keela had thrown her _hammer_ , and Voriki gladly caught in one hand.

The hammer erupted with the power Voriki had held in. The fierce lightning lanced towards the Water Guardian, and the crackling drowned its screams. With one enemy down, Voriki turned his attention to the Stone Guardian. A weaponless Toa of Iron rolled aside to avoid one boulder, only to find its brethren to circle around her. Keela wasn't weaponless for long, reaching out her hand and dragging her platform through the line of boulders.

With one Guardian electrocuted and the other regathering itself, Voriki saw an opportunity. "Keela!" he called.

Keela was already on it. Recalling her slide into her hands, she ripped it into four pieces as easily anyone would with paper. While dodging a boulder-shaped fist, Keela threw one piece at the Stone Guardian to distract it. The rest were flung forward, and they all circled around the two Guardians on Keela's command. "Now!" she shouted after back away.

With one swing of the hammer, Voriki unleashed a storm. The icy cracked cracked from each bolt, and each one shot towards the ring of metal. As water once sent lightning back at Voriki, the iron in the ring spread to the monstrous creatures inside.

The Stone Guardian collapsed on its hands and knees, doing everything it can to keep itself from falling apart. The Water Guardian, for all its eight tentacles, barely its body hold up against another electrical attack. Voriki, the source of said attack, wound up the hammer for a third bolt-

"Aim for the back and right foot!" Keela called on the ring's other side.

Voriki paused to look at her. "What?"

"Aim there!" Keela said. "You have to do it quickly! That's their weakpoin-!"

A familiar shrill cut Keela off. The Water Guardian, in its pain, unleashed high-pitched wails through the air, and they did more than force the two Toa to shield their hearing. The sound became powerful enough to toss each piece of the ring aside. Large waves of water rose from the ice underneath the Water Guardian, enough to cover it and its stony counterpart. "No!" Voriki shouted, not wanting to lose two threats.

Those threats disappeared when the water exploded, revealing nothing in its wake. There were other concerns, though.

"Toa!" shouted Torren who ran to the Toa, with Ferra and the pilots lagging behind. "Are you alright?!"

"We're fine," Keela responded calmly to Torren. Then, she looked at Voriki, still holding onto her hammer. "Voriki?"

Voriki tossed the hammer back. "We need to get to the airship," he said, trying to hide his anger with a thin stoic sliver.

The Okotans looked at each, unsure of the situation, before they followed Voriki and Keela to the airship's wreckage. The walk had been quiet, and it became filled with whispers of surprise at the status of everyone's ruined ride and the tower they came to see. "Oh no," Ferra moaned, looking to Torren. "Is there a way to fix this?"

Torren turned to the airship's pilots, and all three shook their heads. "It seems unlikely," he told Ferra diplomatically, which didn't ease his or the Stone Protector's anxieties.

Voriki hadn't paid attention to the airship. His eyes were looking at the tower beside it. No one came out, and it didn't look like anyone would. Not with how a mighty structure could easily tumble. It looked as if a hurricane came by. Or a gigantic tornado.

"Keela, do you see anything?" Voriki whispered to the Toa beside him.

Keela, already examining the ruined tower, answered quietly, "I do… and I see marks made by energy arrows. But it doesn't make sense. Why would-?"

"I don't know," Voriki cut her off. "We'll have to worry about that when we find him. Now, we have to go."

"We can't do that without a ride!" Ferra shouted and interrupted the two's quiet conversion.

Keela first turned. Voriki recognized the studious look as the Toa of Iron scanned the ruined airship in front. "Can we salvage the airship?" Voriki asked.

"We'll have to see. Stand back," Keela said, rubbing her hands together as she approached the airship.

* * *

 **AN: Alright, that's chapter 12. For this one, I would really like to give a huge shout-out to my co-author, Leena Valtapaz. She has voiced Gali, Toa of Water, in a few fan-made Bionicle projects, most notably the Bionicle motion comics on YouTube.**

 **I reached out to Leena, and she has been a huge help in writing sections of this chapter while I had been stuck. Her feedback has also helped me to move forward and finish the chapter when I thought I couldn't.**

 **If any of you are interested, Leena has an account on this site, where she has her Bionicle G2 fanfiction called** ** _Winds of Change_** **. She also made an audio of her fanfiction, which you can find on YouTube.**

 **Raika out.**


	15. Chapter 13: Hunters and Prey

Her hands folded in front, Aska walked alone on the battlements of Izotor's Glacier. Her soft steps and thick furry cape trailed on the wall, which had been a block of ice several feet thick and far from the spires of her home city. There were few guards on the battlements, and Aska already dismissed her own escorts before she went on her stroll, saying the two Toa on the wall were "the best protection Okoto had to offer" for the wife of Ice Protector Hunarr.

Of the best, a Toa of Time shivered against the cold. "Brrrrr!" he said from further down the battlements. "I really wished Hunarr gave us a glowflake or something to warm us up."

"Don't worry, young Rhem. The climate is not that bad," said the taller Maram, his armor dim from the setting sun.

"You're a big glowing ball! Of course, it wouldn't be bad for you!"

Aska giggled, making herself known to the two Toa. Maram waved, his eyes glowing and his bountiful tone the opposite of Hunarr's coldness. "Hail, fair Lady Aska! A fine day this is!"

Aska returned the greeting in kind, her voice almost singing like jingle of stalactites. "Hail, Toa of Light and Time! I pray that your task is not too daunting," she said with a tinge of humor, her eyes going to Rhem.

The Toa of Time perked up, showing the same awkwardness from his arrival. "Uh, don't worry about us. We're just up here... helping the guards... Just us... with little warmth..."

Smiling, Aska reached into her cloak. "Maybe this will help," she offered and held out a white crystal, shaped like a snowflake and radiating with a nice, warm glow.

"Oh, thank you!" White eyes glowing graciously, Rhem quickly took the glowflake from Aska, and he held it between his hands to take in its heat.

Beside Rhem, Maram's orange eyes glowed curiously. "This is a welcoming gesture, Lady Aska. However, I suspect Protector Hunarr wouldn't like this."

"He would not." Aska admitted, folding her hands in front and sighing. "I must apologize for my husband. He may seem harsh, but I was surprised when he ordered you to take guard duty, considering you are Toa."

"I wasn't," Rhem snorted, ignorant of Maram's startled look, "considering we almost lost to the-"

"Actually, it was my idea!" Maram interjected, swatting a hand on Rhem's back. "I thought it would be good for Rhem here to learn about hard work!"

"I see..." Aska briefly glanced to the winded Rhem, who had dropped his glowflake. "I hear that you two had been out in the wastes. Did you find a clue for any of the Elemental Guardians? It should not be hard, since there are only six of them."

After picking up his glowflake, Rhem hesitated briefly. "Uh, no... we didn't find anything. Nothing, except for that blizzard we were caught in," he explained, another of Maram's slaps had him drop the glowflake again.

"Yes! That deadly storm was blinding and could have been the end of us, if not for young Rhem here!" Maram said loudly again over a grumbling-yet agreeable-Rhem.

Aska easily saw through the facade. Her husband hadn't told her of the Toa's true purpose and the Toa themselves only added to that suspicion. For her guests, she hid her thoughts and innocently said, "Perhaps, I should tell everyone your tale. No doubt, my husband knows it quite well."

"He certainly does," Rhem snorted, which was more of a hint than Hunarr's cold demeanor.

"Speaking of your husband, I bet he must be looking for you," Maram beamed a smile at Aska's surprised look, then he bowed. "We won't keep you any longer, my lady."

Aska nodded her head to the large Toa. "No worries. It was nice talking to you, Maram of the Light," she said, turning in slow and deliberate steps.

With her back turned, Aska heard Rhem say to Maram, "Ugh... you didn't have to hit so hard?"

"Apologies, young Rhem," Maram replied quietly. "I didn't want you to reveal any-"

Rhem cut him off, sadly hiding anything he had to say. "I know, I know, I know. Just don't... Hey, what's that out there?"

Now, Aska turned one-eighty. Several feet away, Rhem peered from the battlements, his eyes glowing as bright as Maram standing beside him. With the evening sun fell on their backs, Aska almost saw the slight shock on the Toa's masks. "Is that...?" Rhem began.

"Whatever it is, it's coming for us!" Maram said, hand on his sword, and Aska finally turned.

Aska didn't see Rhem turn towards her or hear Maram tell her to get down. She only saw a dark mask, bearing a malevolent expression, fly over the battlements, and it was followed by a sudden gust of wind that knocked her and the two Toa off their feet.

Lying on her side, Aska stared up at the long green legs of another Toa landing in front of her. "Grab her!" shouted a tiny, cloaked figure on the intruder's back, and the obedient Toa reached-

-only for Aska to find herself pressed up against a bronze hourglass emblem of another Toa's chest armor. "Got you!" shouted Rhem, carrying Aska in his arms.

Hearing a growl, Rhem and Aska stared at the Toa from further down the battlements. The mystery Toa would've fired his bow, if he didn't avoid Maram's mighty sword. "Take Lady Aska to safety!" cried Maram over his shoulder.

"But that's-!" Rhem stopped, finding the black mask on him. "-right, I'm going!"

Before Aska could say anything, Rhem sped off and carried her away. Shebarely saw her attacker, and his master, fly at Maram's shining sword beforethey became a blur...

* * *

"... Trouble! On the battlements!" Aska heard Rhem say as the world came back into focus.

Aska let herself down from the panting Toa's arms onto the bridge connecting to the battlements. The nearby spire, carved from thick ice, reflected off the surprise of the crowd gathering on the bridge. Among them, two of the Ice Tribe's Crystal Guards stepped forward with pale masks and shields. "My lady, what's happening?"

Rhem, his hands on his knees, panted, "Trouble... on battlements... Kaze attacking... Maram..."

The FLASH from above clarified it all. From confusion to shock, everyone found Maram, light flying off every time his slash struck the battlements' ice. Aska's attacker buzzing around, first colliding his bow against a glowing sword and flipped over the Toa of Light. The enemy Toa, and the tiny rider on him, flew above to avoid a couple slashes, energy arrows at the ready. They flew at Maram, who swung his glowing sword against the green onslaught.

At one more FLASH from above, Rhem gulped. "Oh no, we got to hide!"

An unquestioning Aska whirled to everyone. "You've heard the Toa! To shelter! Now!" The crowd, snapped out of their shock, dispersed in a haze. Aska went to the guards, taken aback by the frenzy, saying, "Have you seen my husband?!"

"No, my lady!" one guard said. "He's in his private studies! He didn't want to be disturbed!"

"He won't ignore this! Go find him and tell him-!" Aska began, cut off by Rhem shouting "Look out!" and shoving her to the side with the guards.

All of them slid down the bridge, avoiding energy shots and shining lights. Lying at the civilians' running feet, Aska, Rhem, and the guards glanced back to the fight on the battlements. The enemy Toa and his controller kept aloft in the air, firing arrow after arrow. The firm Maram skidded back, his shining sword barely holding and swinging back. Blue shots from the flying Toa's rider broke through the makeshift defense, but Maram kept on fighting.

Fighting. And soon enough, losing.

As Aska sat up, she told Rhem, "You need to get me out of here!" She also spoke before he did. "Whoever he is, he wants me! We'll draw him away from everyone, first!"

If Rhem was going to argue, he stopped when a large "RAAAH!" left Maram, who leaped from the battlements. The Toa of Light's free hand held his enemy foot, preventing him from flying away and dragging him down with the weight of his sword and himself. Rhem, seeing Aska's chaser and Maram swerve mid-air uncontrollably towards him, scooped Aska up again. "You win!" Rhem said and ran off.

Things didn't blur like before. Aska clearly saw her people move aside, going to any direction away from the struggle flying above them. The two Toa struggled, Aska unable to see them behind the icy wall of the corridor she and Rhem had entered. Those walls shuddered and cracked from a great body slamming into it.

At last, the wall broke forth along with Maram, his enemy, and his enemy's master, following Rhem on his way out.

While ice scattered, Rhem left and fell from the catwalk onto another under it then another under that one. Those, and the multiple walkways below, criss-crossed between the spires, keeping Izotor's Glacier together like tendons. Aska, held in Rhem's arms, was worried about one breaking as Maram and the other Toa flying through the building she had left.

Over the RAM of the two Toa above, Aska asked hers, "Can you use your powers again?!'

"Give me a second!" Rhem said after jumping onto a fifth walkway, ready to use his powers-

-Until two large chunks of ice hit near his feet. "Woah! Nevermind!" Rhem said, going for the next walkway in time to avoid a third chunk.

Hugging onto her Toa, Aska prepared for the worst. Remnants of the spire above, the same one her pursuers and Maram had destroyed, fell like an avalanche. Nearby civilians were pushed inside for safety and saw the rubble strike the entrances or crash on the walkways outside. The Crystal Guards were bewildered to find their lady going down from one level to the next and in the arms of a Toa. All the while being chased by two other Toa who fell with the chunks.

That, and there were also the arrows. The falling Rhem and Aska yelped when one flew by them.

"Just stop it, will you Kaze?!" yelled Rhem after he landed on the final walkway. More arrows answered him. Rhem rushed down the walkway, hoping to get himself and Aska to cover.

That was when Aska noticed someone else falling down. Large and white, the body was almost indistinguishable from the ice. He fell through the walkway after walkway, bringing more rubble and himself over the two runaways.

"Watch out-!"

Aska's cry died in one second. Maram had collided into her and Rhem, and everything rolled while she and the Toa tumbled off the walking onto the ground below...

... Coming to a stop at a might CRASH!

Everything spun for Aska. She knew she was on the bottom street. She felt it under her, and she saw her Tribesmen nearby. Spinning but they were there, either watching in shock or running away to call the Crystal Guards who weren't around.

Lying next to her, Rhem moaned, "Oooohhhh... what happened?"

By him answered another groan. "Ugh, I... think I slipped..." said a prone Maram, equally disoriented.

Blinking her eyes, Aska found everything had returned to normal. Danger came with that feeling, its shadowy form floating overhead with a raised bow in hand. "Lady Aska, go!" and "Get out of here!" came from Maram and Rhem respectively, but both were silenced by several arrows. The arrows struck around the Toa, flashing into a net of green energy that encased them.

That left the other Toa floating above the ground. Aska glanced to this Toa's master, who leapt off. Aska barely saw his cape flap before he clasped her wrist. Shouts of nearby guards halted when they saw the Toa with the black mask and his shorter master in a hood. That hood to the gathering crowd and out of it came a growling demand. "Bring Hunarr! I wish to speak with him!"

Though of the Ice Tribe, Aska froze with fear. That voice... It couldn't be...

"Bring Hunarr! I won't ask again!" Aska's mystery kidnapper shouted again.

"I'm here," Hunarr answered, and the Protector of Ice came through the shocked crowd.

Seeing her husband, Aska tried to run to him. "Hunarr-"

A yank on Aska's wrist brought her up against her kidnapper. "Where is it, Hunarr?" He demanded with a golden gleam shining under the hood.

The voice pierced Hunarr's stoicism, as it had with Aska's. His eyes widened a little, and his voice rose by one decibel. "Let her go..."

Aska's captor refused. Holding her close, he demanded again, "Where is it? Where is the piece?"

Hunarr's narrowed glare relaxed. "... home. In the sculpture," he said quietly.

"Thank you, Hunarr…" said Aska's captor smugly. As he let go, he turned to his minion. "Toa!"

The freed Aska ran to her husband, both unaware of the Toa raising one arm. Upon the Toa's command, dark tendrils emerged from the shaded ground and went for Aska. They bounded her arms and legs, pulling her entire body back. "ASKA!" Hunarr shouted as he ran towards his wife.

A shackled Aska reached out for her husband. She didn't care about the crowd gasping and screaming at the shadows swallowing the black-masked Toa. She didn't care about the Toa's master who went next. She wanted her husband. She wanted him to free her.

Hunarr was too late as his wife and both her captors sank into darkness.

* * *

 **AN: Another chapter completed. I hope you all have been enjoying this story so far. Sadly, there may or may not be another delay. This isn't due to any real life problems-I just haven't finished the next chapter (as of now). I do apologize as I may finish by the next deadline but I can't be sure of that. If there's nothing two Saturdays from now, know I am sorry and I am working on the chapter. Thank you.**

 **Raika out.**


	16. Chapter 14: A Bitter Fight

Kaze's master felt a tinge of nostalgia while emerging from the shadows. More than a decade passed, and Hunarr's home hadn't changed a bit, with its five pristine floors and the main lobby large enough to be a mini-plaza. The Toa and his master's footsteps rang off the crystalline floor of the said lobby and went up to the chandelier of icicles. Another's footsteps stopped on the pale stairs in front. "Halt! Do not - gyah!" shouted a guard, silenced by Kaze's energy net.

While Kaze flew up to take care of the other guards in the house, his master walked up the stairs with a hand on the railing to touch its familiar freezing surface. He followed the rail's jagged path up to the second floor. By then, four more guards fell from above to the main lobby. They and their screams were no concern to him. What stood in front, did.

And in front stood Toa Kopaka. The hailed Uniter of Ice stood tall and proud as the only statue in the entire house. Tiny rays came through the nearby window, sparkling the statue's sword as well as the tribal markings on its chest. "Still beautiful," Kaze's master said fondly. He almost felt pity when he swung his hammer at the statue-

 _SMASH! SMASH! SMASH!_

-and his anger washed it away. "What?! Where is it?!" he shouted at the statue's empty remains.

A sound, rumbling like distant thunder, turned the hooded glare away. "Toa!" the intruder shouted as he walked from the sunlight to return to the shadows with his servant.

Or rather, he would have if not for the loud _KA-BOOM_ bursting through the main entrance below. Out of the smoke and debris, a large slab of metal slid forward and onto the main lobby. The blocky engine - clearly pulled from an airship and strapped to the sled's back - died down for a few Water Tribesmen to depart with a Toa of Iron. The Toa of Lightning on the sled called out, "Keela! Help Torren get them out of here!"

Torren? High above and unnoticed, the intruder's gaze went to the Water Okotans. Among them was indeed Torren, but he wore something on him. A fine blue cloak unlike anything in all of Okoto. A Protector's cloak.

His eyes blazing, Kaze's master yelled, "TOA! WIPE THEM OUT!"

A hail of green fell upon the interlopers like rain from a storm. The Toa of Iron, Keela, yelled for everyone else to take cover. The Toa of Lightning speared the air above him, unleashing bolts to deflect the attack. The precise arrows avoided the random sparks and some would have hit their targets if both Toa hadn't used themselves as shields. "Urgh!" came from the two.

A second later, Kaze flew straight down to the enemy below. His new mask would suppress any remorse or any other feeling. That much had been promised to his master, and Kaze himself lived up to the promise with another barrage of arrows. Keela, whose hammer deflect some of those arrows, shouted, "Voriki, we can't hold him off like this! We need a distraction!"

"I'll give you one!" Voriki shouted back. Aiming his spear, he shouted, "Hey Kaze! Dodge this!"

Kaze dodged the bolt and taunt easily. Another bolt, following the previous one, struck him in the chest. The Toa of Air flew back instead of forwards, right into the stairs where his cloaked master awaited him. The same master, hiding in the barely visible smoke, noted how Kaze's body shook in anger and frustration after standing up. "Toa! Take care of-!" the master began, but his servant had already flown off. To whom was obvious.

On the makeshift sled below, Voriki called over his shoulder. "Can you get us out?!"

"I'll try!" said a voice behind Voriki.

It turned out to be a very familiar and very brown Okotan, who became more noticeable after she hit the sled's engine. The sled roared to life again and turned upon the Stone Protector's command. Her brown cape fluttered behind as she and Voriki rode off, leading Kaze out of Hunarr's home in a fervent chase.

Kaze's master, however, remained. His hooded eyes fell on the two remaining threats, his mind called for another Guardian, and his words dropped into a growl with every step he descended. "So… Ferra is here too. It shouldn't take much to deal with her. You two, however…"

"Uram?" Torren gasped up at the sneering figure.

"Hello, little brother."

With the spat came a bullet-spewing hammer. Keela stepped in front of the Water Protector, her mask feeling the iron in each of the oncoming energy-laced projectiles. And with that power, she stopped them in mid-air. It was a bit hard since she kept the bullets centimeters from her hand.

It wasn't hard to send the shots back though. After Keela flicked her wrist, the bullets hit the stairs, not the one named Uram who leaped onto the railing. Sliding down, his feet scraped enough ice off its flat surface, but Uram ignored that to fire again. It was a distraction, one Keela accepted for Uram to swing at the ball of ice waiting for him at the bottom. Torn from the railing, it flew right at the distracted Keela.

A hail of returned bullets shredded the ball to pieces. Uram rolled away so the floor would be shot and not himself. He stopped, placing one knee on the glassy floor. After briefly glancing the bullet holes, Uram studied Keela who had flung the bullets back at him. "You…" he said with slow realization, "... you wounded my Earth Guardian."

"And if I had?" Keela said, her voice soft yet firm.

Uram's condescending glare hid his frustration and impatience. He aimed it past Keela, and he called, "She is strong, Torren. I wonder how long you will hide behind her, though."

"What are you doing here, Uram?!" Torren demanded after stepping beside Keela.

"You of all Okotans should know. After all, you were never good at keeping secrets. You can't stop what's to come." Uram stood, hammer held out to one side. "Tell me where Hunarr's fragment of the mask is. Perhaps, I may return Aska to Hunarr if you tell me."

Uram smiled at Torren bristling under his cloak. Good. Very good. "What did you do to Hunarr's wife?! Where is she?!" Torren demanded to Uram's glee.

"That lies with Kaze, I'm-"

Several pops of ice cut Uram off, and metal bullets came at his left. He ducked, rolled back, and sat up to glare at Keela. She had raised the bullets from the floor and sent them back at Uram. Very dangerous. Now, Uram couldn't afford to look away from Keela. That Toa studied him, just as he studied her. "It isn't nice to interrupt someone," Uram said, and he fired another round.

Keela drew it all into her free hand, which smoked from the dying plasma. "Kidnapping someone isn't good either," she retorted and threw a ball of merged bullets.

Uram swiped the ball aside, and it sank into the floor. He couldn't afford to fight Keela one-on-one. He didn't possess her power. He did have something though... if it would heed his call. "Is that the best you can do, Toa? Surely, someone who fought off my Guardian could squash me," Uram gloated past a layer of caution.

Keela didn't take the bait. She didn't even respond. She merely watched with one eye narrowed and another behind a telescope. Perhaps, Keela wanted Uram to talk and unveil Aska's location. He would certainly talk. "I wonder," Uram began, "what did Torren tell you? Nothing about me. Perhaps, he never told you how he summoned you six… What I had given him-"

"That's enough!" Torren shouted sharply. "This is your last chance! Surrender, Uram! Even with a Toa, you can't get past all the guards."

Uram felt a presence had answered his call. It wasn't like Kaze's mask of shadows but it would do. "I did that on my way in," Uram laughed. "Besides, did you think I had no plan out?"

As if on cue, the entire lobby trembled. Uram wobbled but quickly stood firm in his spot, now glowing from in a dim red circle. The dimness grew into brighter, melting the floor enough for five massive and red claws to pierce through whatever remained.

The floor under him gone, Uram fell into the heated palm of an Element Guardian. He looked up and wished he could frame the stumped expressions of one Toa and one Protector. That would have to wait. He had to find Kaze, after all.

"Goodbye, Torren! Give your sons my regards!" Uram called before he and the Guardian escaped under the melted floor.

* * *

Voriki hissed after an energy arrow almost scraped his shoulder. He only dodged when his getaway took on a sharp turn to another street. Icy white Okotans ran out of the way for a mechanized sled to come through. That also included a Toa of Air flying after it. Voriki barely saw Kaze before another arrow breezed by his head. "Can you make this thing go any faster?!" Voriki shouted over his shoulder.

"I don't know! I didn't build it!" Protector Ferra shouted from behind before gripping the lever attached to the engine.

Voriki turned, swatting aside a few more shots with his spear. He relied on the sled's speed to draw Kaze away, and it did that at first. Now, the black-masked Kaze slowly caught up. Voriki expected more arrows, not a powerful burst of wind tossed at him. "Incoming!" he shouted.

Ferra pulled the lever back, and the sled screeched in turn. Its new brakes couldn't avoid Kaze's gaze, which turned the sled on its side. Voriki leaped off before he could be tossed aside like Ferra was. After he grabbed her mid-air, Voriki spun over the tumbling sled and landed in a crouch. The vehicle's side _SLAMMED_ into a nearby building, crumbling its plating.

Kaze hadn't given Voriki time to recover, hailing more arrows on the Toa of Lightning. The same Toa threw up more lightning from his spear. "Get to safety! Go now!" Voriki shouted not only to Ferra but to the other nearby bystanders. Everyone scrambled, Ferra being the last to take cover in the nearby buildings.

One hand holding up his sparkling spear, Voriki blasted other hand to the side. He slid across the street in a wide arc, and three more arrows followed the sparks trailing behind Voriki. Another burst pushed Voriki over an arch hiding Ferra and a few guard as the Toa bounded up a nearby building. His feet hit the slick icy wall two, three, four times before he leaped off and landed on a nearby walkway.

Kaze, a Toa of Air, flew up after his quarry. Voriki grunted when he leapt onto the other walkway above. "Kaze, snap out of it!" he called, and Kaze responded with more arrows.

Voriki dodged them by leaping onto the next walkway above him. He went on to the next after that, and then the next and the next and the next. Each walkway and bridge led Voriki from the gigantic dome that was Hunarr's house. The black-masked Kaze zipped not too far behind, and his arrows came at Voriki.

Voriki dispersed more lightning from his hand again. It was weaker than the last burst, but it pushed Voriki to the right and onto another walkway. He couldn't use another like that so soon, though, so he kept on going and leading Kaze on a wild hunt.

The further he went, however, Voriki thought he saw something below. Two figures long on the ground, trapped in green nets. Was that…?

"Gah!" Voriki yelled from an arrow hitting his leg. Instead of jumping off a walkway, he tumbled down from it. "Out of the way!" he shouted to a tiny crowd below, twisting his body mid-air.

Voriki hit the ground in a roll. His back scraped against the bitter cold whilst he bounded into a crouch. He then stared at the pair in front of him, the smaller and darker of the two shouting " _V-Voriki?!_ " in surprise. "Maram! Rhem! How are you holding up?" Voriki asked then two Toa.

"Uh, a little tied up!" replied Rhem, trapped with Maram under Kaze's energy net.

An arrow cut off any groans. Watching Kaze approach from above, Voriki asked, "Maram, can you still use your powers?"

"Hrgh! I think so," Maram answered, struggling against his net, "but I can't break free!"

"You don't need to. When I tell you, shine as bright as you can!" Voriki ordered and ran into a hail of energy arrows, his spear pointed forward.

Bolts lanced from the spear and stopped the closest arrows in place. Holding up his other arm, Voriki let the rest hit him. Some dug into his arm, and others went into leg. As close as the arrows were for hitting any vitals, they didn't, and Voriki continued his charge.

Hovering above, Kaze kept his aim on Voriki. Good. Voriki wanted that. Now, he needed to bring Kaze a little closer, and he fired more lightning to accomplish that goal.

Kaze flew to one side to avoid a bolt, then he flew back to avoid the next. After flying under the third bolt, Kaze came up to fire again. Voriki caught another arrow on his spear before spewing more bolts. Kaze zoomed past them all, moving toward Voriki's position. Just a little more and…

"Maram, NOW!"

Upon Voriki's order, a bright _FLASH_ erupted from Maram's being and enveloped the entire area. Voriki closed his eyes to the light and listened for any sound. Among the screams of surprised Okotans, Kaze's pained cries rang the most. And they were the closest.

Running forward, Voriki stabbed his spear in the ground. Pushing off it, he arced into the air. Letting go of his spear, he leaped until he hit something. Hearing Kaze grunt, Voriki held onto the flying Toa tightly. He channeled as much electricity as he could, and he felt a little sorry for what he was about to do.

"RAAAAAAGHHHH!" Kaze screamed as several bolts came off Voriki and seeped into him.

Maram's flash of power vanished. Good timing, since Voriki noticed himself and Kaze were falling. With one hand gripping at the black mask, Voriki ripped it away while he leaped off in time. The Toa of Lightning crouched his legs to cushion his landing, safe and sound. The Toa of Air plummeted into the ground several feet away and did not get up.

A moment later, a tired Voriki limped away. The black mask in one hand and his spear back in his other hand, he went over to his trapped colleagues. "Are you alright?" Voriki grunted after wrenching Maram and Rhem free with a stab of sparkling spear.

"Well, we are alive," Maram said after heaved himself up alongside a concerned Rhem.

"But what about Aska?! She disappeared with that guy and-!" Rhem began but a deep rumble stopped him.

On the other side of the street, molten red claws ripped the street apart. The blocky half of a head rose above and glared burning daggers at the surprised trio. The tiny cloaked figure in the monster's claw, on the other hand, showed indifference. "Hmm, not good," huffed the master of the monster after he spotted the unconscious Kaze and the black mask in Voriki's hand. "However, I suppose I must make do."

Voriki took a step forward, but the tiny figure continue. "We shall meet again, Toa. However, only one of us will find all of Makuta's mask!" He had said to the Toa. Then he turned to the crowd of Okotans, now coming out of hiding. "And farewell to you, my fellow Okotans! Let all know that Uram the Uniter has returned! And he will unite the tribes as he did before!"

Gasps rung all around the Okotans, leaving Maram and Rhem confused. Voriki opted to hunt down this 'Uram' for answers here and now. So Voriki charged at him.

Sadly, the monster unleashed a large wave of fire everywhere. It pushed Voriki back into Maram and Rhem, forcing them to watch. The monster's claw slowly lowered into the hole, and Uram descended with it. Their glares were all anyone saw before the two disappeared under the ice, departing from Izotor's Glacier and its newly enlightened people.

Among them, a Toa of Lightning cursed at the hole of smoke and fire Uram had left behind.

* * *

 **AN: Wooh, boy! I thought I couldn't upload this chapter in time, but I did it, and **I do hope you have enjoyed it.** I was surprised I could even update this, since this may have been the longest chapter thus far.  
**

 **That being said, considering how close I was to not actually uploading, I am thinking about going on a hiatus to write more chapters. Hopefully, this will be much shorter than the last one, and while writing, I hope to try and edit the previous chapters whenever I can. I do apologize for the wait, but I hope it will be worth it in the end and I don't have to make you guys wait anymore after this.** **Until then, take care.  
**

 **Raika out.**


	17. Chapter 15: Cold Division

Not even a full day had passed, yet the hours dragged into eternity for Torren. From sundown, throughout the night, and up till first light, he remained in Hunarr's home. Other than the Protectors and the Toa, no one else was allowed in. Fortunately, almost everyone in Izotor's Glacier was asleep after cleaning up the damage and checking for any casualties. There were none, thank the elements. However, there didn't mean people didn't talk.

Helping to coordinate the relief effort, Torren heard guards and layman alike talk before going to bed. Out of everything, they shared the same three words. Those words brought the six Protectors to Hunarr's home, and Ignar spoke them on his way into Hunarr's house. "Uram is back… Uram is back…"

Holding in a sigh, Torren turned to find the other Protectors had taken the news differently. Ferra walked like she was balancing on a ball. She almost had, after stepping on ball of fused bullets. Hanu, having come with Ignar, hobbled behind in hollow steps. His calm expression almost cracked, as if hit by a tremor. Torren himself wasn't sure what to do, other than wait in the center of the lobby. Ruka, the last to arrive, voiced everyone's question after she hopped inside. "Is it true?"

"Uram is back… Uram is back…" Ignar said to the side with an almost haunted look.

"That should answer you," Ferra told Ruka, but a sliver of fear broke through her snark. Hanu stood beside Ferra, his silence often broken with tiny breaths.

Ruka's fear was more obvious as she quietly walked across the scarred floor. Avoiding the large hole, she stepped beside Torren. "What… what we do?" Ruka asked. "If it's Uram, then…"

"We'll think of something," Torren said patiently, which only made Ruka more impatient.

"But he's prob'ly the one who attacked my village! And Okil's missing since! I dunno if he's missin' or kidnapped!" Ruka almost shouted, gripping at Torren's cape like some lost child. "Torren, there is somethin' we gotta do now! Somethin' to stop Uram!"

At that, Ignar's muttering grew louder. "Uram is back… Uram is back..."

"We know, Ignar," Ferra sighed, stopping by the steps. "We've heard you the past fifteen times!"

Ignar, ignoring Ferra, focused his glare on Torren. "You…" the Fire Protector seethed, "How could you not have told us this?!"

The other three Protectors looked to Ignar, surprised. "Hey, don't put this on him," Ferra said to defend Torren. "He didn't know. How could he?!"

"Oh, he knew! He knew the entire time! Look at how he keeps his calm! He speaks of being honest, but Torren keeps the most important details to himself! He never tells you until it's too late!" Ignar shouted at Ferra, then he glared at Torren. "Just like Uram did with us."

All eyes fell on the Protector of Water. He had been silent, head hung down in fatigue and shame. "I suspected... I thought Uram had been involved in this somehow," Torren admitted quietly. "But I never knew it was like this…"

"Torren?" Ruka uttered to the Water Protector, letting go of his cape.

"It doesn't matter, now," Torren said more confidently as he looked to the others. "It doesn't change that we still need the Toa and-"

"No, Torren!" Ignar refused. "You saw what Uram did with just one Toa. And he has the Guardians under his control. He threatens every one of us and our people!"

"Ignar's right," Ferra said and frowned finding four surprised stares on her, including Ignar's. "I know, I know, but Uram being back will cause problems. He's clearly after Makuta's mask, and he'll make sure everyone knows about it. When they do, they too will want it. We can barely hold our people together if they're fighting each other."

"That is what Uram wants," Torren argued. "All the more reason we and our Toa must join together!"

"Bah! More nonsense!" Ignar spat and threw up his hands. "The Toa can barely help! If they go out, Uram will control them easily. Having them search for the mask means leaving our regions open to Uram's attacks!"

After Ignar's words echoed across the lobby, even Torren had nothing to say. A cold breeze entered and fell over the five quiet Protectors, each in their thoughts and each glancing-or glaring for Ignar-at each other. "So… what now?" Ruka spoke up. "What we do?"

"We keep the fragments separated," answered a cold voice.

Everyone now turned to Hunarr on the step. When Torren saw him, he had run back home for Aska. Since she was not here, Hunarr was like a statue, not having moved himself or his stoic mask. With everyone looking at him, Hunarr broke his silence again. "Each of us will search for our piece of the Forbidden Mask and keep it in our respective regions. We hide them in secure locations, close by if needed, where no one else will ever find them. Only we would ever know and we will stick by our regions to guard the pieces."

"But what about when we have to meet?" Ruka asked.

"We won't need to…" Hunarr said, standing up, "... not anymore."

"Hunarr, wait!" Torren called, but the Ice Protector had already gone up the stairs.

Torren couldn't stop Ignar either, who left his in a relieved huff. "Finally. A plan worth getting behind! No more waiting around! No more meetings!" Ignar exclaimed on his way out.

Torren's eyes followed Ignar departing through the door. "No…" Torren gasped, having lost not one but two allies.

Two became three when Ruka too turned away and said, "I… I… gotta go too. My tribe needs help rebuildin'. My scouts can search for our piece."

Torren looked at her. "But Ruka," he argued, "You don't have good security! Anyone can just come in and-"

"Sorry, Torren, but… I dunno if ya can help… Not anymore," Ruka said. After a quiet moment, she was gone.

Torren turned to the only two Protectors left. "And you two?" he asked, holding onto some hope.

"Well, mentor here will probably want to go with you. He has to get his Toa, I guess," Ferra said, gesturing to a nodding Hanu.

"What about you?"

"With Uram back, he'll know about where we've kept our pieces. Sorry Torren, but…" Ferra sighed, "... I'll have to take back my piece from you. I know it may not seem good, but this might be best for now."

Torren wondered if that was true. He kept on wondering while Hanu and Ferra left him in the center of the wrecked lobby. Torren stood there with reminders of Uram and his vengeance surrounding him. Seeing them, he was too busy to notice a Toa in a bronze half-mask had vanished from sight.

* * *

Before the sighing Maram, cracks and burnt marks littered the open road. To his right, a trashed sled laid by a building and the imperfect rectangular it had made. He sat by it, cross-legged and heaving in the rays of first light. "Are you alright?" Maram asked Voriki standing on his left.

Voriki uncomfortably shifted his grip on his spear, as if being asked startled him. "Just a bit tired. Can't really sleep, though," he said, looking at Maram's hands. "Can you get anything on that?"

Maram looked to the black mask he held. The cursed thing had been on Kaze, and it made him attack the Okotans and his fellow Toa. Perhaps it would do the same to anyone else. Maram, as the Toa of Light, would've been an exception. That had been why Voriki gave it to him, as well as find anything. "There is nothing," Maram sadly said. "Whatever taint there was, it is gone."

"Just like Keela said," Voriki grumbled. Seeing Maram's raised eye ridge, he explained, "I had Keela look at it before giving it to you. She said she didn't notice a thing either."

"Had she now?" Maram rumbled curiously. "Where is she, if I may ask?"

The answer rushed behind a Toa of Air marching towards Maram and Voriki. "... You have to rest!" Keela explained to Kaze. "You had already had several burns and-"

"I don't need you to tell me! The sooner I get my bow, the better!" Kaze snarled through his original green mask. Protector Ruka had brought the mask with her, and Maram noted Kaze's attitude didn't change much for it. Whether that was good or bad had yet to be seen. Still, it was unlikely for anything to make Kaze angrier-

Then, a Toa of Time appeared, his hands on his knees. "Anything?" Voriki asked the Toa.

"Gimme a moment… Had to run… very fast…" a tired Rhem breathed. He stopped panting to find Kaze and Keela standing several feet away, staring at him. "Uh…"

"No need to fear, young Rhem. Kaze is with us," Maram announced, earning a snort from Kaze.

"Oh... okay," Rhem said with his eyes wanting to look anywhere other than the glaring Toa of Air.

Beside said Toa, Keela stepped forward and asked, "So what do you have? Are the Protectors going to be alright?"

Rhem shook his head. "I don't think so. The Protectors… they want to split up. They don't work together with… well, you know," he explained and stopped himself when he noticed the Crystal Guards walking around.

The answer surprised Maram. "Split up? But what of us? Aren't we to be united in this cause?"

"Clearly, they think otherwise," Kaze rudely piped in, and Rhem decided to chime in from there.

"Maybe they think it's for the best. I mean… both our Protectors aren't fond of us, especially after we lost, and that's not to say about what Kaze did." Rhem's white eyes widened and worryingly met Kaze's red glare. "Oh, uh…"

Voriki coming to Rhem's rescue. "Rhem does have a point. It's not like you're popular here, either," he said and gestured at whispering guards nearby to prove his point. "And you can't do much with this, now…"

Kaze's glare whirled to Voriki, or rather what Voriki held in his other hand. "Give me my-argh!" Kaze began, but the pain of his burns stopped him and forced the might Toa on his knee the moment he took a step forward. His stubbornness was as strong as ever, though, as he shrugged off Keela's hand.

Feeling a tinge of pity, Maram told Kaze, "Rest and regain your strength, Kaze. You will need it to regain your victory. You can stay here for a bit."

Rhem rose a questionable finger. "Uh, I dunno. Like Voriki said, he may not be welcomed here."

"I think it might be the same for us, soon enough," Keela said, turning Kaze's daggers for eyes away from Rhem. The whispering guards caught the attention of all five Toa, and Keela herself found more with her telescopic mask. "After what happened, these people may not trust us for much longer. And like Rhem said, the Protectors want to split up. Who knows what that might mean for us."

Voriki rested his spear on his shoulder. "Well, for now, we head back to our respective regions. We need to head back…" He paused to toss the bow at Kaze's legs. "... and all of us need to be armed and ready for what's coming."

Wordlessly, Kaze scooped up his bow and stood in one motion. He only spared one last glare at Rhem, then he limped away with whatever strength left, dragging his left leg behind his right. "Well," Keela said after Kaze was out of earshot, "I suppose I should meet with my Protector. I guess she'll want me to make something to help with this situation."

Soon enough, Keela went the opposite way of Kaze and walked past the other Toa. Maram would've watched her head for Hunarr's home, but Voriki sighed and said, "This is going to be a very long road ahead of us."

Maram turned to Voriki. "I suppose you want to head for the Water Region?"

"No, I don't think I'm going anywhere. And it might be more difficult for you, since your Protector doesn't wants you anyway. No offense, Maram."

"None taken." Maram said. His eyes smiled, but his mind focused on Keela's words. The Toa of Iron had brought up good points, and he wondered how things would turn out for all six of them. The Toa of Lightning seemed to have been thinking the same, yet his expression made Maram ask, "I believe you have a plan?"

"I do… and it will have to do with that," Voriki said, nodding his head down to the black mask in Maram's hand.

Rhem stepped in between the two Toa before Maram could ask. "Uh, hey! Is there anything you need me to do? I could use some help to look for Aska and-"

"I don't believe so, young Rhem," Maram said with a free hand raised. "You should rest yourself and prepare for-"

Voriki clasped his hand on Maram's huge shoulder, cutting him off. "Actually, there is something I want you do to…" Voriki told Rhem, bringing out a much needed brightness to the Toa of Time after yesterday's events.

However, Maram saw a glint in Voriki's yellow eyes. A glint that made Maram feel sorry for Rhem.

* * *

 **AN: ... So, it turns out my last note was a partial lie. A week after I made that announcement of going on another hiatus, I finished this chapter. After getting it done, part of me wanted to put this up and give a tiny bit of closure to this arc before going on any hiatus. This time, though, I probably will go on one and hopefully it will be shorter than the last hiatus.**

 **Also, shout-out to Toa Coy 2.0 for looking the chapter and giving a quick response. If you reading this Toa Coy, I really do appreciate it. Thanks!**

 **Until the new hiatus is over, take care.**

 **Raika out.**


	18. Chapter 16: Recovery

**AN: Hello again, my dear readers. No, this chapter hasn't been updated on the wrong time.** **Now, this story will be updated every other Friday instead of every other Saturday (done this way to help me keep track of this and other stories I am working on).**

 **Also, it has certainly been a while since the last update! Well, has this time been used wisely to write more chapters? ... Uh, yes and no?  
**

 **Okay, I'm gonna be honest. I only got a few chapters done at this point. The ghost that is real life haunts every corner, and even its tiniest things can, at times, make me feel drained these days. I'm unsure if I can get another chapter done in time, so don't be surprised if I don't update after a few chapters.**

 **I'm sorry to be a downer but it is how things are and I don't want to give you false hope (well no more than what I've already given you guys).**

 **So bad news out of the way, I do thank** **you for your patience. Enjoy!**

* * *

"So, what do you think dad's doing now?" Waya asked as he spotted a fish swim by his window.

"Dunno," Mizu answered in a bored tone, "and don't really care."

Waya turned from the great ocean outside to the foamy-like insides of his bedroom. "You know," he told Mizu, lying on the bed, "you probably should take this more seriously. It's not everyday we get to see a Toa."

Mizu threw his arms up to the ceiling's wavy patterns. "What's the point? We've been stuck here for _days_! Why talk about the Toa if we can't see him?"

Waya's eyes frowned. "Well, it won't be long until we're not grounded. Then, things will go back to normal..." The younger brother paused and muttered, "... well before you do something crazy again, that is…"

"Yeah right. Like things will get back to normal," Mizu scoffed as he sat up. "I bet you there's something shady with this whole Toa business. We're the first Okotans to see a Toa in five centuries, and we're locked up like prisoners!"

"No, I think that had something to do with the fact that you _playing_ as lightning catchers," Waya said sardonically.

That earned a finger-point from Mizu. "Hey, you came along willingly!"

"No," Waya pointed back, " _you_ dragged me along to go on your crazy adventures like you always do!"

"Not like you had anything better to do!"

" _Boys_ ," a third and older voice said from outside the door, "don't make me come in there!"

Hearing the guard waiting outside, Torren's sons stopped. "Yes ma'am!" called a wincing Waya. He quickly glared at Mizu and whispered, "See! Every time this happens, we end up here!"

The older brother crossed his arms, almost pouting to the younger. "Well, nothing good comes out of waiting…"

 _Tap, tap, tap, tap…_

The two looked up, and found the waves in the ceiling's pattern had shifted slightly. Then, one wave - which was a panel in truth - moved to the side, unveiling a mask of a familiar Water Okotan. "Likki?" Waya said, recognizing his brother's partner-in-crime in the ceiling.

"What was that?!" came from outside.

"Nothing! Just my brother tapping at the window!" Mizu called back.

When the guard didn't enter, he and Waya looked back at the open space in the ceiling. Through it, Likki dropped a note of folded leaf. Mizu eagerly picked it up, unfolded it, and quietly read the words to read on it. "'The Toa is back?'"

His eyes bright like lightning, Mizu whirled to Waya. "Do you hear that Waya? He's back! We got a chance to see that Toa again! We can figure out what's going on!"

"No, we're not! We're still grounded, remember?" Waya pointed out.

"Yes, but not like dad will ever know about this. We've got a guide of the city with us, after all," Mizu argued, pointing up at Likki.

Waya huffed in response. "Well, we're going to need something even climb up there. I don't think even Likki has that."

As if on cue, Likki dropped an old, but long and sturdy cable from her hole. The bits of fluorescent wiring stuck out when its glowing end landed in front of the two brothers. Seeing it, the older grinned victoriously while the younger sighed in defeat.

* * *

Water pounded and collided on the metal walls. They remained firm as they had for over a century, keeping Kivoda City's submerged half and its ventilation system intact. For as loud as the waters were, they didn't drown Mizu as he crawled through the cylindrical tunnel. "Likki, you are a life-saver!" he exclaimed while shuffling on his hands and knees.

Likki, taking the lead, looked over her bent shoulder. "Well, I couldn't just leave you two alone. Not after what I've seen," she explained.

"You mean the Toa?" Waya said from the back of the line, his snark made more apparent by the walls' light blue glow.

The glow also showed Likki's grinning eyes. "Not just ours. But the others too!"

Mizu's expression matched his guide's. He had heard rumors of the other Toa, but rumors couldn't satiate his curiosity. "What are their elements? And just how many are there exactly And-!"

"Maybe save it for when we get there," Likki said. "The Toa can give you a good explanation."

After a moment of crawling and debating in his head, Mizu sighed. "Yeah, you're right."

"Of course I am," Likki almost laughed. "I'm not just a pretty face, after all."

"Well, that does help," Mizu said a bit bashfully, earning a groan from behind.

"Ugh, why don't you just marry her-oof!"

After giving Waya a well-placed 'nudge' of his foot, Mizu heard Likki say, "We're almost there! Just past a few junctions!"

Likki stated the truth. A maze in of itself, the ventilation system had several junctions where the air tunnels connected with one another. Given their size, it was either for the trio to turn into one hole on their right or stretch over another. The further they went, the closer they got to another source of light. "Alright, we're here!" Likki announced after stopping by the brightness.

Mizu and Waya joined her, huddling close to get a peek. The light itself poured from four wave-shaped slits of a metal grill. Beyond that and down was a round chamber, no different than Mizu and Waya's bedroom. The only difference was the bed in the room's center. That, and the dark and tiny Toa lying on it.

"Who…?" Waya asked but loud steps stopped him before he could ask about the Toa who wasn't Voriki.

The tunnel he, Mizu, and Likki hid in shook, and voices followed after a massive pale figure in the room below. "... sure you can do this, Toa Maram?" asked someone who was unmistakably Protector Torren.

Mizu, holding back a frown, watched his father trail behind the giant being. "Perhaps…" the Toa named Maram said, "... I will need to carefully observe what is keeping Zala here asleep. Stand back."

Another pair of feet wobbled behind Torren. "What's the Earth Protector doing here?" Waya asked when he saw Hanu, and Likki shushed him.

An equally-curious Mizu kept quiet too, in time to see Maram hold his hands out. Light flooded into the room and washed over the dark Toa called Zala. White rays bent around her body, circling her still limbs and over her closed eyes. "What's going on?" Waya asked again, and Likki shushed him again.

Mizu had a faint idea on his brother's question. He often heard tales of the great Ekimu from centuries past. Mizu remembered one tale, and a voice as gentle as a stream flowed to the forefront of his mind. " _Light is an element like any other. But unlike the others, it can see what we may not see with our own eyes. Some call it the element of revelation_."

And the light revealed flames covering Zala. Dark flames screaming in malicious tongues of fearful cries. They slithered around the dark Toa's forms, silencing any word from her.

"By the elements!" Likki gasped beside an inhaling Mizu, who couldn't hide his own shock. Only Waya, ironically, remained silent.

In the room below, the two Protectors lurched back at the horrible thing entrapping Zala. "Is there anything you can do?" Torren asked, while Hanu watched in shock.

"I hope so… I may know of a way that can help with this," Maram's voice rumbled and trailed up to the tunnel. The spectators inside it, Mizu particularly, noted about the hesitation from the huge Toa. "... you may want to shield your eyes for a moment."

While the Protectors below did so, the trio above blinked. "What do you think he means by that?" Mizu whispered, breaking his silence.

"I don't know - Gah!" Likki said and was interrupted by a sudden _FLASH_.

Like Likki, the brothers quickly shielded their eyes. All three of them could barely stare into the light now flooding the entire room and into their hiding spot. "Argh, what's going on?!" Waya said while he looked to the other side.

"Hrgh, I… I can't see anything!" Mizu said. He attempted several times to take a glance, and several times, he only found the light and had to turn his eyes away.

When he took one more peek, Mizu at last saw something. The dark outlines of Zala rose, levitating softly over what was supposed to be her bed. The dark flames lurched in every direction imaginable like snakes boiling in the desert, their sizzling sounds raging at the light. They fought for every bit of control to stick with Zala and keep her asleep as she had been for who knows how long.

Within a tiny fraction of that time, the light turned the darkened flames into nothing.

Everything dimmed back to normal, yet their screams echoed everywhere. They lowered with the aloft Zala until she at last rested back on the bed. In the newfound silence, everyone watched - the worried Maram and the Protectors by her side, and the children in confusion and anticipation. "What…" Mizu asked, "... what just happened-?"

Sound filled the room again. Screams, this time. "N-no! Please, make it stop!" came from Zala, now rolling on the bed.

Maram quickly - and gently - grabbed Zala's arms before she could flail them around. "Zala! Zala! It is I, Maram!" Maram called over the sounds of terror.

"... Maram? Where…?" Zala asked after settling down and sitting up, her pinkish eyes gazing all around her new surroundings.

Maram slowly let go. "You are in Kivoda City. You… suffered greatly…" he answered quietly and hesitantly.

Zala hugged her tiny body to stop trembling in the slightest. The reaction surprised the spying Mizu and his cohorts. Since when were Toa defeated, let alone scared for their lives? Just what in the elements had happened to her?

After a few seconds passed, Zala spoke again. "Is… Is everyone alright? Is Kaze…?"

"Toa Kaze is fine. The situation has been handled appropriately," Torren told Zala, gaining the attention of the two Toa. He also gained the attention of Protector Hanu, who stomped a foot on the floor. "Uh, yes… your protector came here to pick you up… He wants you to leave with him… immediately…"

As much as Torren's hesitation surprised Zala, it surprised Mizu and Waya even more. Neither of them had ever heard their father talk like this in years… Not since…

Maram's voice cut through Zala and the brothers' shock. "We should go… I shall tell you about it on our way."

Hanu first left the room in soft thuds and disappeared out of view. After sliding off the bed, Zala was about to leave when she stopped. Maram's back had been turned, so he didn't notice Zala turning her head and… wait, was she looking up? Mizu blinked that thought away, believing it was ridiculous for anyone to find him, Waya, and Mizu.

Zala's pink eyes, gazing up at the hidden trio, widened. Makuta's black heart, she _did_ see them! How…?

Each of Likki's hands quickly covered the brothers' masks. "Don't speak or move," she whispered to not blow their cover.

A _stomp_ from ahead turned Zala away from Waya, Mizu, and Likki. "Uh, coming!" she called and ran after Hanu, allowing the young ones to breathe easily from inside their hiding spot.

There was a new issue when Torren called for Maram. "Toa, a moment please." The giant stopped to look at the tiny Water Protector, just as the brothers did from above. "I have a request to make… I have two sons and I would like for you to take them away from here…"

"It is… strange, but I shall do what I can. Two boys may be easier than an Elemental Guardian," Maram said, almost laughing.

Waya softly groaned, and Likki almost chuckled, knowing the irony of the statement. Mizu kept unusually silent, stifling any laugh to hear his father sigh. "Perhaps," Torren told Maram, "but after what happened, after Ferra came by for her piece, I can only fear for them."

Maram's light laughter died back into a rumble, and his hand rested on the Protector's shoulder. "That is a sign of fatherhood if I have ever seen one. Do not fear, Protector. I shall watch over them."

"Thank you… and be careful. I don't want this to be like Izotor's Glacier and Uram."

 _Uram_. Mizu shivered. That was a name he hadn't heard in over ten years. That explained a whole lot now, especially if Protector Torren, of everyone on Okoto, was afraid. "Uncle Uram?" Waya whispered, his voice and body trembling. "He's back?"

"I… I guess," Likki whispered, her voice shaking. Probably just as anxious as Waya.

Mizu tightened his quaking hands into fists. There was no way he would show fear. Not now and especially for someone who wasn't there. "We should head back before anyone notices," Mizu told the others. "Dad will probably want us to go immediately."

Not Likki nor Waya argued. On their hands and knees, they went the way back they came. None spoke a single word. After all, they had seen more Toa. They had seen another Protector within Kivoda City after so many years. They had at least a clue of what - or rather, whom - was going on.

At the same time, there were still other things left unanswered. How was Uncle Uram still alive? What did he have to do with any of this? Who and where the other Toa?

And where _was_ Voriki?


	19. Chapter 17: Training Days

To untrained eyes, the lonesome lightning bolt fell quickly from the sky. In a split-second, it cut through snowflakes and burned the cold air. Within the same width of time, it would either strike the rocky cliff or the Toa of Time standing on it. Voriki, watching each tiny spark ionize the air, hoped it would be the former.

The split second passed. Charred rocks flew off Okoto's Great Divide, either flinging to more rocks or to the Regions of Ice and Water lying right next to each other. "Woah!" Rhem shouted after barely dodging the bolt.

Voriki frowned. "Again!" he called and raised his spear to summon another bolt.

For the umpteenth time today, Rhem dodged the bolt a second quicker. It had been faster than previous days, when Voriki had to make sure his attacks didn't hit the younger Toa. Still, Rhem rarely used his power to slow or freeze time. Not once did he even warp away, like how he did when fighting the Stone Guardian. Voriki hoped to see something like that soon enough… if he could get Rhem to control the basics first.

"Can… we… stop?!" Rhem asked, dodging Voriki's attacks once, twice, and _thrice_.

"You tell me! You can control time!" Voriki called back with more bolts.

Rhem rolled to the side, letting more bits of rock fall on him instead of lightning. His spear crackling, Voriki twirled it and aimed. Rhem barely sat up when another bolt lanced towards him again. In the briefest of seconds, Voriki saw the fear and surprise in Rhem's eyes. There was something else; Voriki swore Rhem's very being blurred to match the incoming bolt.

It wasn't a trick of the eye. The lightning was Rhem's sole focus. And with nothing else around to distract him, Rhem could try to match the lightning's speed, if not surpass it. He just had to move a little more and…

 _ZAP!_

A green arrow intercepted the attack. Electricity scattered all over, forcing Rhem back. "Yeow!" he cried under the shower of sparks.

Standing at a safe distance, Voriki looked up to Kaze swooping in. "Nice of you to join us," Voriki said to the Toa of Air who landed in the space between him and Rhem. "Mind explaining why you interrupted our training."

"Your lightning was getting everywhere," Kaze almost growled. "I could barely fly when you were causing a storm."

"Point taken, but _what_ were you doing?"

"Hunting."

"Out here?" Rhem said and received another red-eyed glare. "Um, never mind… By the way you have some ice on-"

"Yeah, he knows," Voriki told Rhem, as Kaze brushed the flaky remnants of an ice blast off his shoulder. "I guess you had some trouble with the locals."

While Kaze gave a soft " _hrm_ ," Rhem stood up to speak again. "Well, they're kinda on edge since Kaze attacked their home and-"

"That wasn't me," Kaze snapped to a sudden swirl of cold air.

Holding in a sigh, Voriki told Rhem, "Can you give us a second?"

Unsure and hesitant, Rhem slowly agreed and shifted his feet further and further down the Great Divide. After making sure Rhem was out of earshot, Voriki quietly told Kaze, "I thought you would've gone after Keela and make sure her piece was secure."

"That's not the problem," Kaze said. "Finding this mastermind is."

"You're sure this isn't for personal reasons?" Kaze glared, and Voriki frowned back. "I guess not. Probably doesn't matter anyway."

"Uh, you done yet?!" Rhem called from far away.

Voriki responded by slamming the butt-end of his spear down and calling down another bolt. Rhem jumped away, and more of the cliff cracked instead of him. "Still not there," Voriki sighed, then he called back, "Keep training!"

Seeing Rhem get up again, Kaze shook his head. "Why are you bothering with him?" he asked Voriki.

"You know why," Voriki said calmly, but the next bolt he fired at Rhem shook irritably. Kaze stayed quiet, so Voriki went on. "If you have nothing else, you might as well go. Meet up with Keela and figure out what's going on."

A faint roar caught the attention of all three Toa. "That's probably her now," Voriki said, a finger pointed to an airship flying in the distance. "No doubt, she's looking into the Forbidden Mask… it may help tracking down this Uram."

Kaze grunted. "You want her to watch over me, don't you?"

"Somewhat," Voriki said honestly. "After what happened, we can't afford to split up."

"I doubt that's the reason," Kaze muttered. "So you know, I'm not the one you should be watching closely," he said, glancing to one specific Toa on the side.

Voriki held in the urge to punch Kaze. "That won't be a problem… And you don't need to worry about Rhem. He's one of us now, whether you like it or not."

Kaze's eyes blurred as he turned away. "There never was an 'us.' Not then and not now," he said lowly before he bent his legs and flew off to the airship in the distance.

In the puff of wind and snow, Voriki turned and called to the watchful Rhem, "Well… let's get back to training."

* * *

For Rhem, time passed quickly and slowly at the same time. On one hand, training went by without Rhem noticing a thing. Not hard under a constant barrage of lightning. On the other hand, the bolt itself felt very drawn out. It crawled like a long tentacle snaking its way. It had been a brief moment at first, but enough focus dragged the moment out until the lightning visibly crawled towards Rhem.

Inhaling sharply, Rhem stepped to the side and let the lightning pass in normal time. He exhaled after the bolt shattered the cliff behind him. "Yikes!" Rhem cried as more rocks fell on him.

"Better," Voriki called approvingly and let the electricity die from his spear.

Rhem took the praise and hunched over, his hands on his knees. "That… took… long enough…" he said between his pants. "Didn't think… it would be… this bad…"

"It's only like that at the beginning. The more you practice, the more you'll get used to it."

"No kidding…" Sighing, Rhem sat on the mountainous path. It was rocky and uncomfortable, but it was better than nothing. "So, uh what was that about? The conversation between you and Kaze."

"Just some talk," Voriki responded, stabbing the ground with his spear.

Rhem's gaze said he didn't buy the lie. "Okay, what's the big deal with you guys? I know I'm not welcomed, but what's going on now? Did you guys fight or something?"

Voriki shifted his feet uncomfortably. "It doesn't matter. What matters is getting this done… And for you, you need to work on your powers," he said and aimed his weapon at Rhem. "Well, go on. Take out your weapon."

Rhem did, his sickle out in one hand. "Uh, what am I supposed to do with-wait!" Voriki thrusted his spear, cutting off Rhem. Taking a step back, the younger Toa barely caught the spear in his sickle's inner curve with a long _riiiing_. "What are you-?!"

"Weapons practice," Voriki responded. "Most, if not all, Toa have a weapon that works for them. That weapon you hold is a conduit for your power. Mine harnesses my lightning."

Voriki's spear lit up to prove his point, shocking Rhem enough to break away. "Ow…" Rhem groaned, shaking sparks off one hand and holding his sickle in the other. "... well, I don't see how a weapon like this will help _controlling time_."

If Voriki had anything to say, a distant shout interrupted him. He and Rhem turned to find they weren't alone on the Great Divide, since there were two groups of Okotans facing each other. Of the two, Rhem easily recognized the crystalline spears of Ice Okotans from Izotor's Glacier. "Hunarr must really be ramping up security, huh?" Rhem thought aloud but Voriki walked over to the patrol. "Hey, wait up!"

Rhem lagged behind, his feet clumsily kicking up rocks. The closer he and Voriki got, the shouts grew clearer. "... must let us through! We haven't heard anything for days! We need to see what all the fuss is about!" said one of many Water Okotans.

"Keep to your side!" warned one icy Crystal Guard with a jab of her spear, careful to stay alongside her comrades.

Rhem, sprinting past Voriki with worry, shouted, "Hey! What's going on?!"

The two sides whirled, and one Water Okotan shouted, "Toa! Please help us!"

"Sure," Rhem said, "just tell me-"

"Toa," the same Okotan told Voriki, having ignored Rhem altogether, "Protector Torren sent up to investigate the Great Divide. However, these guards are refusing to let us pass!"

"None shall pass!" said another Crystal Guard. From his stature, he was the leader of the icy group. "This territory belongs to the Region of Ice!"

"Since when?!"

"Since Protector Hunaar ordered it! We are merely doing our jobs!"

"So are we!" cried another Water Okotan.

"Uh Voriki, a little help here?!" Rhem said over his shoulder. His fellow Toa stood there, studying the situation, so he looked back to the group. "Look, if this is about Uram, then-"

"Aha! So it is, true!" said another from the Water Okotans. Rhem regretted blabbing a word, moreso when the same Okotan faced the Crystal Guards. "You lot were just trying to hide it from us!"

The guard leader, remaining firm, shouted, "This is your last warning! If you do not leave, we will use force!"

"By Makuta's black heart, we will!" came from the Water side, now marching forward.

In that moment, Rhem noticed several things. The Crystal Guards lowered their spears now lit with ice energy. Across from them, a Water Okotan lugged with a gigantic barrel to her hip. Rhem would've asked where anyone would've gotten that from, but he put that aside when it lit up with its own elemental power. Voriki, having been idle for some reason, couldn't reach in time to stop it.

His own heart pounding against his chest, Rhem ran forward and shouted, "NO!"

With his shout came focus. And with that focus, everything changed. Rhem thought he tapped into his powers again, and he had. Yet, Rhem hadn't moved on his own legs. Everything else moved him instead.

In a flash, everything put him by the line of Crystal Guards, and his sickle sliced through their spears. He wasn't even sure if he hit them.

In another flash, Rhem was in front of the Water Okotans, kicking the gigantic barrel up and away from its targets. He barely noticed it, and the spears, firing until time resumed.

 _KABOOM!_

"GAH!" Rhem shouted as one big explosion knocked him onto the Great Divide.

Groaning himself to full consciousness, a prone Rhem squinted through swarming icy particles. After the particles dispersed, he was surprised to find broken spears and a weaponized barrel partially sticking out of the rocky path. By them were every single Okotan, knocked off their feet but still alive.

Rhem stood up, not noticing Voriki or his slap on the shoulder. "That was something," Voriki congratulated Rhem. Then, he looked to the stunned group. "Is everyone alright?!"

"W-what the...?! What just happened?!" one Okotan shouted.

"Nothing for you to worry about! Now, I suggest you all go home! Report back to your Protectors..." Voriki pause to light up his spear, "... unless, anyone wants to have more trouble!"

That convinced everyone. Slowly and silently, the Okotans departed for their own homes. Soon, the two Toa were left alone on the Great Divide. Of them, a shocked Rhem spared a glance to Voriki and asked, "D-did I do…?"

"Yes, you did," Voriki said. "Do you know what happened?"

"I… I think so…" Rhem looked down at his hands. "Everyone... I just wanted them to stop... so I… well, you know."

"Well, try to do it again. Focus on that feeling while it's still fresh."

Closing his eyes, Rhem did that. It was like when he could slow down time, but this was different. With adrenaline coursing through his body, he could hear the seconds pass by in a quiet and constant _thump-thump_. He felt, if he just pushed, he could move through those seconds without one disappearing into the past.

So Rhem pushed. He pushed through the Great Divide, the snow, and Voriki. It all warped around his gentle suggestion, crawling over Rhem's very being. Instead of Rhem moving by everything, everything moved by him instead. Rocks slid under, snow grazed past, and Voriki's touch was long gone. Such a thing couldn't have been described so easily, and Rhem opened his eyes to do that.

What Rhem found was the Great Divide. However, he was back on the cliff, the very same spot he stood on minutes ago. A confused Rhem looked around to confirm new-or rather, old-surroundings. As he did, he found a familiar Toa walking through the snow.

"Now, we're getting somewhere," Voriki said, his eyes grinning at Rhem and his hand whirling his electrifying spear for another bout. "Let's try that again!"


	20. Chapter 18: Knowledge is Power

The flight to the City of Mask Makers had been a restless one. Despite the absence of any Elemental Guardians, Keela's mind stayed on them, on Izotor's Glacier, and on the Guardians' master. _Uram_. A simple name, but it kept even Protector Ferra on edge, even as she walked off the airship and through the city streets with Keela.

"I'll be in the marketplace. We're going to need a lot of materials, so I'll take a while" Ferra said, almost grumbling to Keela. However sickly she may have been after the flight, she tried not to reveal the Stone fragment of Makuta's Mask.

"Are you sure?" Keela asked quietly, meaning the fragment the Toa held close to her hip.

"Nothing else we can do," Ferra shrugged, her tone unusually low. "You should go. We'll meet up in a few hours."

As she heaved the satchel with the fragment in, Keela glanced to the crowd. "And them?"

"Leave that to me. Gotta break the news some time, I guess." Ferra sighed and turned, her guards flanking her to give an image of authority and to draw eyes away from Keela.

The distraction let the Toa of Iron leave the crowd. She would have marveled at the architecture and analyze every little facet of engineering. However, distant whispers of "attacking Izotor's Glacier" and "Kaze the traitor" set Keela towards the Temple of Creation. It awaited for her atop the hill, and so did the statues by its entrance. The temple's long hall greeted Keela's scope when she took a few steps in. "So much knowledge here," she murmured.

Keela's hand trailed on a wall. On that wall were pictographs of colorful planets and figures, telling a story from five hundred years ago. A story about timeless heroes sent to face a lord of spiders and awaken a mask maker... but something seemed off. Keela wasn't sure what but-

"What are you doing here?" askes a familiar green Toa who landed at the temple's entrance

Keela turned to the Toa of Air, her visible eye wide with relief. "Kaze? It's good to see your wounds have healed-"

Kaze cut her off. "Enough pleasantries. Voriki sent me. Now answer the question."

Though taken aback, Keela answered calmly, "I'm trying to look for clues." She walked down the long hall, and Kaze followed. "Ever since Izotor's Glacier, something has been bothering me."

"And that is?"

"It's what Uram told me." Behind, Kaze's grip tightened on his bow. Keela continued, staring at the wall in front of her, "When we were fighting, he mentioned what the Protectors used to summon us. An incantation of some kind. The Protectors stated they gained that knowledge from here, so I hope to find… well, something. Answers, I hope."

"There is more, obviously."

Keela glanced to Kaze. How had he figured her out? "Yes," Keela said after a moment and went back to studying. "From what Ferra told me, this place used to be the very forge that made masks on this island. It held all sorts of knowledge that can help us. Maybe we can even win."

"I doubt that," Kaze hummed, catching Keela's eye again. "If we win, this victory will only belong to the Okotans. Even then, things may return to the way they were before. And for us…"

Keela's scope extended to study Kaze who fell silent. For a moment, the Toa of Air stared at the heroic figures on the wall and he looked... _sad_. Kaze had seen while he was under that black mask. Guessing what it was, Keela reached a hand. "Kaze…"

Kaze's glare whirled, glowing harshly as it always had. He willed an energy arrow and aimed it down the hall. Kaze hadn't fired, but his voice turned into a low growl. " _He's_ here."

Keela whirled to the other end of the hall. When her scope confirmed Kaze's words, one hand went for her hammer and the other curled on her satchel. She would need all she had to protect the fragment. They had lost one already. They couldn't lose another. "Be careful," Keela whispered to Kaze, "I'm detecting several vines beneath the stone."

Kaze willed two more arrows onto his readied bow. Step by step, he and Keela slowly stalked down the hall. The two Toa watched for anything to attack them, particularly the hidden vines Keela had spoken of. Other vines were more obvious, crawling over the hall and emerging by the cloaked figure waiting inside the Protectors' meeting chamber.

"Welcome, Toa," Uram greeted from Torren's seat, "I was wondering when you would arrive."

"How did you even get in here?" Keela asked Uram, her gaze cautious.

Under his hood, Uram's eyes smiled. "The others never told you of the secret entrances. Of course... They are like that, even after all this time. I'm glad I have no regrets for my actions."

Keela shook her head to Kaze, telling him to not fire. They needed to be careful. Holding onto her satchel, Keela slowly trailed to the part of the chamber's wall that was farthest from Uram. "You seem to have your own secrets, too," Keela began, sparing a glance over several inscriptions. "After all, you know about all of this."

"Yes… I used to spend my youthful days here… Everyone paid no attention to the old legend of the brothers, of the prophecy, but I did…" After scouring the chamber, the nostalgia under Uram's hood became a far-off glare. "They came to me for everything because of that. I gave them what I could find, and it was never enough. They always wanted more. Always to one-up each other…"

Kaze's fingers switched, and Keela shook her head again. She needed more. "What are you planning? Just what do you want?" Keela pressed Uram.

"It is simple," he spoke. "I am here for the piece of Makuta's mask. And I know you have one."

"What makes you think we'll give it to you?" Kaze growled.

"Because you won't escape easily. And you don't know how to wield its power, even for Toa skilled as yourself and your friend here." Uram smirked to Kaze. "Well… one former ravager."

Keela worryingly saw Kaze's red glare go crimson with rage. "No, don't-!" she shouted, but the Toa of Air had already fired his arrows.

Three vines emerged from the walls in loud _cracks_ and quickly whipped over to Uram. In seconds, the arrows had incinerated the vines into ashes, but more appeared to surround their master. To Keela, one eye stared at a cursing Kaze and one scope found the vines' origins to be the green-glowing Jungle fragment of Makuta's Mask. Holding it, Uram said, "Take care of him."

With a _boom_ , stone flew into the air, and the Jungle Guardian appeared from beneath the floor. Its bug-like form, and its own green vines, zoomed by Keela's scope to tackle Kaze down the hall. More vines from Uram's fragment vines blocked her from helping, so she turned back to the table. "Now, that is out of the way, I'll speak more freely," Uram began again as he stood and trailed the wall of the chamber. "You're here for answers about what I said, and I can give what you want."

Keela's scope glared at Uram."You think you can come here and expect me to give you the piece in exchange for answers?"

"I plan to take the piece, one way or another. But I'm here on behalf of another."

"Another? You mean…?" Keela's mind flashed back to hearing the words " _dark flame_ " from a slumbering Zala by Kivoda City and a wounded Kaze in Izotor's Glacier. Uram's stare confirmed her thoughts. "If that's true, then what makes you think your 'master' won't turn against you?"

"He has never steered me wrong before. After all, he told me all he knew about you and your Toa." Now, Keela's mind went on alert, especially as Uram stopped on the other side of the chamber's entrance. "He has done much for me… And he can do the same for you too."

Taken by surprise, Keela stepped back. "What? You expect me to join you?!"

"Somewhat. You could serve the Protectors and help them, but what? Do you honestly think they will give you any respect? Any honor?"

"After you're gone, they will," Keela argued, but she recalled Kaze's words minutes earlier.

"I doubt that. Look at me. The Protectors wanted a weapon, so I took what I could from here and gave it to them. Any information had been ruined when I found it, but they didn't care. They held onto it as their own and put me aside. And they will do the same to you." Uram waved a hand to the figures-red, yellow, blue, black, green, and white-on the wall beside him. "To them, you will never be these heroes. You will only ever be a mistake."

Keela's right eye twitched beneath her scope. She had suspected some foul play but a _mistake_? No, that couldn't be right. "What about your master?" she asked, hiding her uncertainty behind a layer of righteousness.

"He cannot come here even if he tried. He already expended his energies dealing with your fellow Toa… But he is still working. Still planning. You thought Aska was the only one? Ask Ruka about her brother. More will follow after them. You can help, or I will take them one by one."

Keela fell silent. Uram had given her an ultimatum: join him or let others suffer greatly… but everyone would suffer even if she agreed. With the vines blocking the entrance, Keela had no way out. And she had no metal to use… right?

Uram took one step closer and held his free hand to Keela. "Well... what will it be?"

For a second, Keela stood in thought. Then, she pulled out the Stone fragment from her satchel… and swung hammer down on it.

* * *

Light pierced the gaps between the vines pushing Kaze out into the city. Two grabbed at his feet, but his arrows cut him loose. Tumbling in mid-air, everything swirled until Kaze's flight kicked in at the last second. Floating over the buildings he almost crashed into, Kaze heard several onlooking Okotan gasping at the Toa above. "Look! Isn't that Kaze the traitor?!" one said.

As much as Kaze wanted to silence that one, he had other concerns. Particularly, the Jungle Guardian rushing out of the Temple of Creation. "Get away!" Kaze yelled to everyone below.

Everyone else ran while the ground shook from the approaching Jungle Guardian. "Somebody, call the guards!" another Okotan shouted, and Kaze knew he had to keep the fighting away from the people.

He let loose two arrows - one for the Guardian's head and the other for its leg - baiting it towards him. People on the streets backed away when the giant bug got close, but Kaze flew up and away, leading his enemy back to the temple.

The vines _whipped_ after Kaze like snapping snakes. He whipped over the temple's roof, down its back end, around its anvil-shaped frame, and did it again and again. Any vines that came close were shredded by Kaze's _zapping_ arrows, and any more wrapped around the very structure they emerged from until they went _twang!_

Completing his last pass, Kaze flew up the tangled mess of vines around the Temple of Creation. The Guardian controlling the vine had trapped itself, unable to pull free from gigantic structure. From high above, Kaze pulled two arrows on his bow, ready to end his prey.

"Guh!" Kaze grunted from the sudden burst of rock that interrupted him, and he to the spear-wielding brown Okotans atop the nearby buildings.

Kaze moved to the side to avoid a second stony projectile. Before a third could be fired, the brown-caped Okotan called Ferra rushed in. "Stop!" she shouted, pushing away her Copper Guards' spears. "Can't you see he's on our side now?!"

Ferra's help came too late. A distracted Kaze flew back and to the side to avoid untangled vines coming at him. The Jungle Guardian screeched its wooden mandibles as one vine grabbed at Kaze's leg. "No!" the Toa of Air shouted, zapping it and the oncoming vines with his bow.

Kaze flew again, going up and up and _up_. His arrows met the vines in a flurry of green energy. Yet when one vine was destroyed, three more three more took its place. Even as he tried to get higher, the vines chased him down.

When Kaze went right, the vines followed. When he swirled around, they _still followed_. And the vines didn't get tired like Kaze - nor feel his swelling fear - as they were about to take him again. And in the vines, Kaze heard the sneering voice in his mind: " _You were always weak_ -"

 _KA-BOOM!_

Large chunks of stone struck through the vines, and dust blanketed the area. Kaze, already flying upwards, had to only look to the Temple of Creation, large clouds emerging from newly formed cracked. Kaze waved one hand, and some of the dust parted as he looked for the Jungle Guardian.

Instead, Kaze saw Uram's tiny hooded form walking out of the smoke. "City of the Mask Makers, it is I, Uram!" His voice echoed across the courtyard outside the Temple and beyond it. "Many years ago, we banded together against those who threatened our island! I led our people into victory, and you helped me in my quest to unite the Tribes! Now, I call upon you again!"

Kaze would've gladly fired, if not for two vines emerging from the smoke and grabbing at his bow. He pulled back in a tug-of-war. "Hrgh!" Kaze glared, now left to hear Uram continue.

"Your Protectors have told you that I perished! But NO! They lied to you! All so they could hide the truth of their betrayal! Of how they left me to die! And now I have returned! To undo the wrongs of your Protectors!" Uram paused for the dust to settle as he lowered his hood. "Your Protectors have told you the Toa are meant to help you! But they too are a lie! They only wish to help themselves! They hide why they have summoned the Toa. BEHOLD!"

Something shone out of the corner of Kaze's vision. It wasn't only the Jungle fragment in Uram's hand. It was Uram's mask too, its golden color shining down to the ends shaped like tusks.

"Makuta's Mask has returned to this world!" Uram shouted, louder than ever before. "Not only that, but I now wear Makuta's Mask of Control! I can find the pieces! And whoever holds the pieces, holds the Mask of Ultimate Power! Your Protectors wish to keep that power to themselves! WILL YOU LET THEM?!"

On the last word, Kaze drew a free hand across his tied-up bow and- _ZAP_ -tore it free with an arrow. He spun mid-air, ready to fire at Uram. Vines yanked his target away, and the Jungle Guardian emerged from the clearing dust.

Its bug-eyed face briefly met Kaze's glare before swirling and leaping atop the Temple of Creation. Then, it leapt away to the Great Divide lying beyond the City of the Mask Makers. All with Uram riding it back.

"Kaze! Kaze, where are you?!" That was Keela's voice, coming from below.

Reluctantly, Kaze flew down to Keela, now in front of a ruined Temple of Creation. "What is it? What happened…?" he asked but had a good idea when he found a piece of the Forbidden Mask in Keela's hand, glowing a fierce yellow aura.

Keela, despite holding the Stone fragment, looked worried. "We have to hurry! The others may expect company very soon!"

* * *

 **AN: And that's chapter 18. Now, in case if you don't see chapter 19 in some time, don't worry. I am working on it... it just will take a little bit longer to post it than I would've originally liked (since it goes against the very schedule I had set up). Until next time, take care everyone.**

 **Raika out.**


	21. Chapter 19: Tremors Big and Small

**AN: WOO-HOO! Looks like I made it after all! Sure, this chapter is quite long (perhaps the longest I've written as of yet) and may need several edits later down the line, but I think it was an alright job. Now, I would like to also thank Toa Coy 2.0 for looking over this chapter the day before and responding so quickly.  
**

 **That being said, I may have to get rid of my current schedule altogether or go on a hiatus (yet another) because I'm not able to get you guys quality material in a timely matter at all! I may just put an announcement if that ever happens (probably if I don't update the next chapter in two weeks).**

 **But for now, please read and I hope you enjoy!**

* * *

The past two weeks had been one surprise after the other. From dealing with a new Toa to rumors of Uram's return-which she heard while walking in Korgot Caverns' main square-Tira wasn't sure what to do. Still, she carried on like the rest of the Earth Tribe. Having a baby always kept Tira busy, especially when a tiny tremor made said baby squirm in Tira's arms.

"Are you sure you don't want me to hold him?" Kerac asked his wife after the tremor passed, barely noticeable to the two and everyone else.

"I'll be fine." Tira's tired tone said otherwise, but Kerac didn't question it. Tira loved that about him: how he trusted in others' abilities. It helped when he assigned certain guards to watch their Toa while he left to look for minerals.

Kerac also kept his guard up. His blue eyes turned and became as sharp as his drilled spear. "What is it? Is something the matter?" Tira asked and found the main square abuzz with shock.

Off to the side, a vendor dropped a mined crystal and shattered his merchandise. In the midst of others gasping and falling silent, Tira heard little. She saw little too, barely able to glance past her fellow Tribesmen-now still like statues. It was enough for Tira to spot a Toa of Shadows.

The following questions held back Tira's fears: " _Why was the Toa of Shadows out in the open and hidden like before? What was she doing back here?_ " Those questions made her step out of her fear and past two whispering Earth Tribesmen, to get a closer look.

And Tira found the terror of Korgot Caverns sitting under a crystal lamp. The way she hugged her legs close to her chest, she looked so fragile. So _scared_.

"Tira…?" said Kerac.

Tira looked at him. "I'm going to try to talk to her." Tira spoke again after Kerac's eyes widened. "I know it may sound a bit crazy, but… we have to do something about _this_." Tira gestured a free hand to the crowd. "Everyone can't be scared all the time… and I feel something's off."

"But our son-"

"I think…. I think he'll be fine. She didn't hurt him last time." Though she doubted her own words, Tira whispered, "Please, Kerac…"

That same trust, which Tira loved so much, convinced her husband to tell everyone to go about their business. Chatter rose, and feet crept away from the Toa of Shadows, allowing Tira to approach her. The purple crystal lamp gleamed off the Toa's body and irradiated her already-lit limbs. With the sharp scythe barely in sight and within reach of the Toa, Tira spoke, "Uh, hello?"

The Toa jumped, and Tira jumped too. "Are… are you okay?" she asked, meeting the Toa's equally startled gaze.

"Yeah… I think so," the Toa said quietly, her arms trembling around her shaken knees. Her pink eyes especially darted across the main street, looking at… the shadows?

Tira took another step closer. "Um...I don't think we've met properly… I'm Tira," she said hesitantly, well aware of the others staring at her.

The Toa hadn't noticed like Tira had. "Hanu told me… I'm Zala by the way."

"Yes… my father told me," Tira said and wondered how much her father had told Zala. "Speaking of which, where is he? Last I saw him, he left for the Ice Region…"

Korgot Caverns spoke before Zala could, its walls shaking suddenly. Everyone went on as usual, with very few taking notice. Among those few, the Toa looked around at the tiny rocks falling from above. "W-what was that?" she asked, almost frightened by the shaken cavern.

"Tremors," answered Tira. Natives like herself would be used to it, save for her wailing son. Holding him close to her shoulder, Tira whispered, "It's alright… it's alright…"

"Is… is your son alright?" Zala asked once the shaking stopped, unlike the babe's crying.

"He's fine. He's not used to these things yet," Tira said, and her concern grew after she spared a glance towards her child. "Though… he hasn't been like this before."

"Maybe… maybe I can help?" Zala proposed in her meek and almost-naive voice.

In any other situation, Tira would've ran away then and there. However, she remembered how Zala had helped her son, so she knelt by the Toa's side. Zala's hands waved gently over the baby's maskless face in circular motions, purple light trailing behind each. Tira admitted how alluring the show was, and her son agreed, cooing to lights pulsing before his slit-like eyes.

The calming pulse faded under another tremor. Only this tremor was made by giant feet of a giant Toa thudding on the ground. Ignoring everyone else's gasps, Tira stood upon recognizing the Protector with the Toa. "Father?" she said.

The other Toa waved, and his voice boomed. "Ah, there are you, Zala! We were wondering where you were after you ran off!"

"Hi, Maram…" Zala squeaked, to Tira's confusion. The hands that soothed her baby son grabbed an all-too familiar scythe as she went over to Maram with it.

As the two Toa talked, Hanu approached his daughter. You gave her your old scythe?" a surprised Tira asked, and her father shrugged a little, as if to say " _it seemed like a good idea_." Tira didn't like it, though. "Father, what is going on? First, you give your scythe. Now, you're back with a new Toa! What is going on? Does… does this have to do with Uram?"

The last question, said in a whisper, shook Hanu's eyes briefly. Instead of answering, he gestured to two younger Okotans behind Maram. Two _blue_ Okotans whom Tira recognized.

"Torren's sons? What are…?" Tira stopped her questions, knowing her father wouldn't answer her yet. He did nod his head towards the two Water Tribe brothers, indicating that their father had asked to watch over them. "Me? Watch them? Father, you know I have Ang-"

Tira again stopped. Her father's eyes drooped down, all but begging for help. Tira had seen that look after her mother died at the hands of the mysterious invaders. With old emotions swelling inside, Tira sighed. "Very well, I'll do what I can," she said, holding her baby. "Besides, I've dealt with one boy. How hard could two be?"

* * *

"Ugh, where are those two?!" Tira grumbled a couple hours later. After losing Torren's sons, she huffed her way after a pair of obvious tracks that left Korgot Caverns. "Just how do those boys know how to move through here?!"

Tira pondered on that when the tracks led her to the old settlement outside her home village. Once, her father had come by this way in search of Zala. Now, Tira trailed after two boys who were no doubt looking for two Toa. Tira was thankful she left her son with Kerac back home. Otherwise, he'd cry and cry. And children could be _very_ noisy.

Case in point, one boy said from ahead, "... Almost there! Shouldn't be too far from the Toa!"

"Mizu, we should head back," said the other boy, whom Tira recognized as Waya in the faint light. "You know what father said. Whatever it is-"

"Oh please! This isn't more dangerous than catching lightning!" said Torren's eldest son.

"But don't you remember? This has to deal with Uncle Uram-"

"That man isn't our uncle!" Mizu snapped, unaware of Tira creeping from behind. He went on, a crystal in one hand and a map in the other. "Besides, we need to know what's going on. And those two Toa have the answers!"

At that, Waya murmured, "They could easily crush us, you know. That dark Toa especially…"

"I doubt that," said Tira, now a foot behind the now-startled brothers. She crossed her arms, clearly irritated with the two who stared back at her. "Don't bother explaining. I heard your 'little conversation.' Now, you two are going to come back with me and..."

Tira's eyes stared at the map in Mizu's hand. A map covered in Uram's writing. "Where did you get _that_?" she asked, remembering when she-a young girl then-scoured the tunnels for Uram.

A sheepish Waya said, "We, uh, took it from our father's quarters…"

"It wasn't like he was going to use it," Mizu added quickly and unapologetically.

Tira placed a hand on each boy's shoulder. "Look here, you two are marching back _right now_!"

"Tira?" came from the side so quietly yet so suddenly that Tira, Mizu, and Waya almost jumped. From the dirtied road of the old settlement, the trio looked up to find Zala sitting atop of one of the old houses-a dome that had partially caved in.

"Toa… I didn't see you there," Tira said, relieved and uncertain at the same time.

"Is everything okay?" Zala asked, almost shouting from her spot above.

From inside Zala's domed and partially decayed seat, Maram's pale mask and massive body popped out of the opened portion. His eyes beamed brightly at Tira and Torren's sons as he greeted them. "Ah, you must be the Protector's daughter! And the boys, too!"

"Uh, yes," said Tira, almost frightened by Maram's sheer size. "Maram, was it?"

"Yes, I am Maram of the Light," the big Toa said, a hearty hand on his chest. "I do apologize for not introducing myself. It has been a busy week. If I may ask, what are you all doing here?"

"We were going to ask you that," Mizu said aloud.

"Stop it!" Tira hissed at Mizu, then she told the Toa, "As you can see, I was looking for these two after they slipped under my nose. Honestly, I've never seen a bunch of troublesome children!"

That made Maram chuckle. "Yes, I've heard they were a slippery bunch. But to answer your question, young Mizu, we are investigating. These tremors as of recent have been strange. Isn't that right, little shadow?," Maram said, turning his bright gaze to Zala. Zala nodded a little.

Mizu shouted, "Come on! Do you honestly think we'd believe that after hearing Uram is back?!"

Though Mizu had voiced her own thoughts, Tira grabbed him and his brother's shoulders. "Save that for later. Your father and I are going to have a serious talk!"

A rumble stopped any planned punishments, however. It rolled under the feet of both Okotans and Toa, who staggered on ground that stopped shaking seconds later. "Was that…?" Waya said. Tira had to admit that it was odd. This tremor rarely happened and so close to home.

"It's close," Maram said with sudden seriousness. "Zala, can you find it?"

Zala hadn't left her spot, but her hands fell on Hanu's scythe and her eyes scoured the cavern. They right, left, up, and down-looking directly for something until she at last pointed the scythe to several feet further down the old ruins. "Good!" Maram said. "Now, we must retrieve it and-"

"No!" Zala cried, to Maram's confusion.

"But little shadow-"

"NO!" Zala cried again and so harshly that it surprised even Tira. "It's there. In the earth… but in the shadow too. And _he_ might be there too."

In the following silence, another tremor was the loudest noise. This one was different, and Tira's heart leapt when she guessed what was to come. "We have to go, now-!"

A large hand of earth _erupted_ from the spot Zala had pointed towards. Rock splintered and cracked in so many places that it rocked the entire cavern. Both Toa could barely stay still, Zala-sans scythe-sliding into Maram's arms as her 'seat' for a house crumbled to pieces. A wobbling Tira barely heard Torren's sons cry out in surprise as they stumbled.

When she did notice, the shaken ceiling above fell away. With boulder-sized rocks dropping everywhere, Maram's massive form came in, hovering over Tira, the two boys, and Zala in his arms-

 _CRASH!_

Correction, one arm. Despite fallen rocks everywhere now, Tira found Maram holding them all up with his back and free hand. The light coming off Maram's body told Tira how strong the Toa was to hold against such weight. Yet, gasps rang from her, Mizu, and Waya from how close they rocks were from almost crushing them. In their darkness, Maram's brightness was fading. _Fast_.

The dimming Maram grunted as he let Zala crouch beside the three Okotans. "Get them… out of here!" he told her.

"But what about you?!" Zala asked over the sound of crushing rocks.

"It will take more to strike me down! But you must do what you can to live!"

"I… I can't! I see him! He's watching even now!" Zala said. If not for the predicament, Tira would've snapped at her.

His form almost gray and both hands holding up the rocks, Maram did that. "Zala! I know not what happened but remember! You saved those villagers in the Jungle Tribe… Do it again!"

As Tira's heart beated faster than she thought was possible, so too did her many thoughts run through her mind. Experience had taught her to shut them out, unlike Waya and Mizu who stuck close to her. All three of them met Zala's wavering gaze before she at last said, "Please… hold my hands! And close your eyes!"

Tira gestured for the bots to go before she did. Waya held Zala's hand, then Mizu, but not before he held up his glowing crystal and asked Maram, "Would this help?"

"It may... work," Maram answered, so Mizu left the crystal by his feet. "Thank you."

After Mizu held onto Zala, Tira lastly did so. A second after they all closed their eyes, there was only the sound of crumbling rocks. In another second, there was no sound. In fact, Tira didn't feel _anything_ around her other than her own weightlessness and the presence of the Toa who pulled on her and two boys.

"Keep them closed!" Zala said before Tira could open her eyes. The Toa's voice still sounded frightened, even though Tira felt nothing.

Zala's terror turned into a sigh of relief. Tira felt her own and heard the boys' as a sense of the real world came back. The stench of grinded stone and dust filled the air, and gasps of surprise from all around filled the silent air. Tira's surprise became obvious when she at last looked.

She was back in Korgot Caverns. Or what was supposed to be it. Within the brief time Tira had been trapped, the great quake came and went. The devastation left behind was obvious by the giant crack across the road and the fallen stalactites atop homes in main square. It had been better than what occurred just outside, but it was still a shock. Not to mention, Tira, the boys, and the Toa stood in the center of it all, while the rest of the Earth Tribe stared at them.

Reality sunk in, and Tira could say nothing. She didn't notice her tribe, the boys and the Toa beside her, or her father coming through the crowd in a rushed hobble. All the whispers and chattering flew over her head, as did anyone else checking on their loved ones. To check on her own, Tira rushed towards the great pile of rubble on the end of the giant crack.

Seeing her husband emerge from the rubble had been a sign of hope. Tira flung her arms around him, holding him tightly as possible. "Kerac?! Kerac, are you alright?!" she asked once she parted, and Kerac coughed up some dust.

"I… I'm fine. I was about to leave as soon as we were hit. But Tira… I…" Her husband's voice croaked. "I left him… By the elements, I had left him in his room… but now… he's not there…"

The words struck Tira harder than any weapon. "Kerac?" she asked again. Her husband stared back with sad eyes that tried not to fall into despair.

Tira did, her weight falling against Kerac. Atop the rubble that once was her home, she wept for her missing son.


	22. Chapter 20: Flames of Family

"Hey, lemme go!" Norii told the two Ember guards holding her arms. "Didn't you hear what I said?!"

"Quiet!" said one guard, and he and his comrade pulled Norii across the rocky path of the Great Divide, hot air brushing against everyone's mask. The Fire Region was the same after many years, filled with lava flows running down red mountains.

The guards were the same too, having taken her captive the moment she tried to enter the area. The two Ember Guards dragged Norii by a dozen or so more on the rocky path she had taken from the Stone Region. Every Ember Guard all glared at this stranger in their territory as she was brought to a lieutenant sitting cross-legged on the ground. "What is it?" he asked, sounding bored.

"We've found this rock-head crawling around our post," explained the guard on Norii's other side, and she pulled the child forward to show her superior.

For only a second, the lieutenant looked from his silver shield to Norii. "Put her back in the Stone Region. We don't have time to deal with rock-heads."

"H-Hey!" Norii began to object to both the insult and the order, but the two guards began dragging her back the way she came. "Listen, I need to talk to Protector Ignar! It's important"

The female guard pulling Norii laughed. "Yeah right! Like we'd let a rockhead see our protector!"

"Please, I-!"

"Hold it!" another voice cut in. It was deep and familiar enough to everyone, Norii included, that the slacking Fire Tribesmen stood to attention as O'nah of the Ember Guard walked up the slopes of the Great Divide. Even Norii's 'escorts' stopped where they were to face their captain.

"C-captain O'nah!" the lieutenant stuttered, bringing his head to his mask in a salute. "We weren't expecting you, sir! It is an-!"

O'nah, armed with his obsidian shield, cut him off. "Enough. Now explain to me what is going…" O'nah trailed off, and his eyes widened at the girl of the Stone Tribe about to be taken away.

The lieutenant spoke again. "Ah, yes. They found her sneaking around. She might've been lost, but we can't take any chances with a nameless nobody-"

"Norii?" O'nah uttered. Then, his eyes glared hot daggers at the lieutenant and everyone else. "Let her go, at once! Can you fools not recognize the daughter of your own protector!?"

Though the two Ember Guards obeyed, they and their colleagues whispered all around. They didn't care if Norii could hear them. After all, she had been in the Stone Region longer than in her home. To them, she was the "half-baked" daughter who left their protector after the invasion ended years ago. Captain O'Nah quickly pulled Norii away from the nasty hissings of his men. "Norii, what are you doing here?" he whispered quietly once the two were out of earshot.

"I wanted to see father," Norii answered, sparing a brief glance to the talking guards. "Rumors have been going around back home. Uram. The Toa. I thought I'd even saw his entourage pass by while returning a few days back! I… I wanted to make sure he was alright."

O'nah groaned with a softness that his own men would say was uncharacteristic of him. "This isn't the desert, Norii! You cannot simply waltz around wherever you want! You have to return now!" O'nah said, and Norii almost jumped when he pulled her away by her wrist.

"W-what? Where are you taking me?!"

"Back home!" O'nah said once he was out of his men's sight. "You cannot be here, Norii! The protector is at odds with the other tribes, as is. He has already doubled the guards at the border. Anyone outside of the tribes may only be casted out, at best!"

"But he's my-" Norii said but O'nah cut her off.

"And you know his temper! If you appear to him, it will only cause more difficulties! Come, I know a way so you can head back without any trouble!"

"No! I'm not going until I see him!" Norii shouted, stomped her foot and pulling back on O'nah.

Stopping, O'nah whirled to patiently glare at Norii. "Child, do not make this difficult for either of-"

"What about all your speeches about family? Well, we're related, too! Did you forget about that?!" Norii argued. Her free hand gripped O'nah's, and she looked at him pleadingly. " _Please_ , Uncle O'nah! I need to see him!"

Staring back into those unwavering eyes, O'nah froze. Norii feared her words were lost on him. "By the elements, you _are_ like him," he mumbled before letting go. "I never expected you to remember my words. You were little, then."

"It's hard to forget those kinds of words," Norii admitted, dimming her flame from before.

"I suppose," O'nah hummed and turned. "Come on. We should hurry before we miss him… but don't say I didn't warn you."

Norii silently followed O'nah down the Great Divide and deep into the Fire Region.

* * *

It didn't take long for Norii to find her father, and he was still where O'nah said he was, thank the elements. His temper was as Norii remembered. His voice flailed around like the volcano whose he stood at, while workers scoured its broadside. "Keep digging! I don't care if you hit lava! I want this job done by the end of the day!"

Everyone else carried on, and none dared to stop O'nah from passing by. The workers were too busy and the Ember Guard stepped aside out of respect. They did glare at Norii trailing behind him. Heading up the volcano, O'nah only focused on Ignar and the personal guard surrounding him.

"I am here to see the protector," O'nah announced, but the guardsmen and their bright orange shields didn't move. "Have you not heard me? Why do you block my way?!" O'nah demanded, and Norii guessed why as she looked from behind him.

"What is going on?" Ignar called a second later, and his mask popped over the wall of his personal guard to find O'nah. "Flame-brother? Why have you returned so soon? Does this have to do with Ruka again? I ordered that any outsider is to-"

"This is no outsider, protector," O'nah said respectfully as he moved aside. "She is of our flame."

With all she had, Norii pushed her legs forward from her uncle's side. She tucked her shaking arms to her sides to keep them still, and her blue eyes slightly shook as she looked at the Protector of the Fire Region. "Hello… father…" she at last said.

Despite his silence, Ignar pushed through his guards like they were melted metal. His feet scratched the heated rocks and in front of his daughter. Norii instinctively stepped back and began to have second thoughts. "What are you doing here?" Ignar's voice had simmered into a whisper, but the demand was strong enough to make Norii swallow.

"I… News has been going around, you know… and I… I wanted to see you…" After saying the sheepish words, Norii berated herself for sounding so childish. Then again, what else could she say? It had been years since they had seen each other.

"Is that all?" Norii nodded, and Ignar stood straight and spoke with his usual bravado. "Well, I am doing well. I'm afraid you've come here for nothing, Norii. Now, your uncle will take you back where you came from."

Norii balked enough to mirror O'nah's expression. "Father, please just listen-"

"We are facing a great threat, and I can't afford to spare a moment," Ignar said, as if talking down to his daughter. "I have made my orders, Norii. They are for all of the tribe to obey, even myself. If you wish to see me again, then please go."

Norii wouldn't budge. "Is this about Uram?" she called to him instead. She didn't care if everyone else perked up at the name. "If so, I can help! I can have the Stone Tribe listen and-"

Ignar scoffed, showing more of his usual fire. "They won't help! Norii, they're probably doing the same as myself. That is, they aren't putting sand in their masks!"

"They are good people!" Norii objected, her voice matching her father's.

"Wake up, Norii! With Uram back, it's every tribe for themselves! By fire, it always has been that!" Ignar thumbed himself. "I'm doing what I can for _my tribe_! And I'm going to protect it from any threat that is out there!"

"Even from _me_? Father, your Ember Guard dragged across the Divide when I tried to enter!"

Irritated enough, Ignar threw up his arms and huffed. "How was I to know?! You never come home, anyway! You just stay there with that frustrating woman!"

"Protector Ferra isn't perfect, but I want to be the best for everyone-!"

"You mean like how your mother was?!"

Norii fell silent, not wanting to dredge up _that_ part of history again. Yet she winced against the strength of her father's words and the harshness behind them. Norii then said, "I'm not her."

Now, Ignar winced. "Norii… I…" he began remorsefully, but his and everyone else's attentions were drawn to an airship flying slightly overhead. "What?! What is one of Torren's boxes doing here?!" Ignar roared with his usual temper.

The answer leapt off the low-hanging airship and landed onto the volcano's broadside where everyone had been working. "Toa Keela?" Norii uttered, surprised to see her tribe's Toa.

The satchel-wearing Keela had the same surprise for a different reason. "Everyone, go! You need to get out of here!" she shouted to all the workers, guardsmen, and others in the vicinity.

Among the confused Okotans, Ignar marched up to the Toa of Iron. His voice drummed his irritation at being interrupted. "And just what are you doing here?! Shouldn't you be back with that blockhead Ferra?!"

"Father, we should listen to her!" Norii said after running to her father's side.

The telescope on Keela's mask widened at the only Stone Okotan among the Fire Tribe. "Norii? You have to return to Stone Tribe at once! Uram may send an Elemental Guardian after them!"

Suppressing a shiver, Norii asked, "Toa, what's going on? Where is Protector Ferra?"

"She's back at the Mask Maker's city," Keela explained, her voice hurried and rushed. Both troubled Norii who never heard that from her Toa before. "Both of you have to listen. Uram appeared in the city! He swore he will be coming after you and your people-"

"Let him come!" Ignar barked, but everyone else's stunned silence said otherwise.

Of the group, O'nah joined in. "Protector, I suggest we listen. We cannot risk everyone's safety here, and a Toa isn't someone to lie like this. We must evacuate everyone-"

"Evacuate?! Our work isn't finished yet!" Ignar argued with O'nah.

Keela stepped in and tried to diffuse Ignar's anger. "I understand finding the fragment is important, but we need to get everyone out of here, now!"

Ignar whirled to the Toa, eyes blazing with defiance. "No! Not yet! We are so close to finding it! There's something here! I can _feel_ it-"

The volcano rumbled, proving Ignar had been right in a way. At the same time, a loud _CRACK_ in its broadside proved the Fire Protector wrong. Lava spewed from the top, then slowly poured through the new and narrow 'V'-shaped crack. Emerging from its top, two fiery claws of an Elemental Guardian made everyone panic.

Of them, Norii felt frozen in the field of fire. Above, the Guardian's anvil-shaped head rose, and Norii almost turned to avoid meeting the molten slits surveying the area below them. Thankfully, Keela stood in the way, a hand on her hammer. "I'll try to hold it off! Get everyone out!"

O'nah got to work first. "Ember Guards, pair up with a worker and get them out of here!" When anyone who hadn't run yet obeyed, he turned to Ignar. "Protector, we must go at once!"

"No, I will stand and fight!" Ignar declared and grabbed a discarded Ember Guard's spear. Norii hadn't seen him like this since the invasion of Okoto. "I will live up to my title as Protector! Flame-brother, get Norii out of here!"

O'nah pulled on Norii before she had a say. Toa Keela remained by Ignar's side, whether he wanted it or not. However, Norii swore the Fire Guardian's eyes were on her, not on her father or the Toa. She was right when its claws fitted inside the crack, then they _pushed_ to the sound of crumbling earth.

The widened crack spread down to the volcano's base, making a hot fissure between Toa and Protector that pushed the two further apart. The former stood her ground, and her hammer blurred against black pieces of rock falling from the volcano's top. More rolled down to be incinerated by Ignar's flame-spitting spear. Smaller than any Toa, though, he fell atop the shuddering ground and left himself open to the other rocks rolling down towards him.

"Father!" Norii shouted, wrenching herself free from her concerned uncle's grasp. She didn't hear him call for her return. She ran, hoping to save her father.

It was not needed. An aura covered the first wave of molten boulders, stopping them in place and destroying themselves along with the next wave. Black pebbles flew in their wake, showering the Fire Protector.

The safe Ignar, O'nah, and Norii turned to the Toa of Iron across the fissure, holding up the golden metal once in her satchel. Given it had the same yellow aura that covered the third wave of boulders, Norii recognized the metal as the one she gave to Protector Ferra almost two weeks ago. "Go!" Keela told Ignar, grunting against the metal's power. "Go while you can!"

"No! And I don't need your help!" Ignar shouted, stubbornly standing up again.

Her uncle in shock, and her father and the Toa distracted by each other, only Norii noted the fully-emerged Guardian. "Toa, watch out!" Norii shouted and pointed to the molten monster down the volcano on two clawed legs.

Keela swung her hand holding the metal, and the boulders followed its path. However, they merely pushed the Guardian to the left a little. Its soot-covered body still ran, towering over even the Toa it had pushed aside. The true target-or targets, Norii realized with frozen fear-laid in front of its path: her and O'nah!

Her uncle pushed her aside. "Norii, get out of-" he said, but a claw swung to catch him.

Then, the Guardian of the Fire Region scooped up Norii in its other hand. The hot 'skin' burned Norii so much that she screamed over the steam sizzling out of her body. Her uncle, a full Fire Okotan, lasted longer before he did the same.

Her Fire-half unable to compensate for her Stone-half, Norii struggled in the Fire Guardian's grasp while it ran off. Where to, Norii didn't know. Dark spots clouded her vision of her father and the Toa beside him, both running and the former reaching out a hand with fervent terror. Norii tried to reach out for her crying father…

… and her hand dropped when the heat of Fire Guardian's claw finally knocked her out.

* * *

 **AN: Welp, if you have read this far, it seems like the story is still going on. And it kinda is. I'm not completely sure on the completion of future chapters, so best play it by ear as to whether or not you will see the next chapter in a couple weeks. Until then, take care.**

 **Raika out.**


	23. Chapter 21: Between Blood and Water

The news spread very quickly over the next couple of days, and Voriki found it to be very troubling. After Uram faced Keela and Kaze in the City of the Mask Makers, more Okotans had been kidnapped. First had been Ruka's brother then Hunarr's wife soon afterwards. Now, it had been Hanu's grandson, Ignar's captain of the guard, and Ferra's pupil- _all at the same time._

Voriki, sitting on the tiny tip of the Great Divide and facing the blue ocean beyond it, thought a good villain would have taken their time with their plans. However, Uram was working fast. Faster than Voriki expected. Maybe faster than he could train-

"I'm back!" Rhem announced after warping onto the atop the cliff. He was getting better, but he had an issue of balance, as he flailed his arms around to not fall off. "Whoo! Close one!"

Voriki turned from the Region of Water's vast sea to Rhem. "Did you find the others?"

"Uh, I've found Maram and Zala."

"How are they holding up?" Voriki had an idea to Rhem's answer after the Toa of Time had fallen silent. "... what about Kaze and Keela?"

Rhem said after a second of hesitation, "Kaze with Maram and Zala, and they're all on their way here. For Keela, I thought she was by the Region of Stone, but I couldn't find-"

The faint roar of an approaching airship cut Rhem off. "There's your answer," Voriki said after spotting the airship coming from what he assumed was the Region of Fire. By the time he had stood up, the airship had disappeared behind the Great Divide's mountains. "You said the others are coming, right? Why don't you go and have them meet where I told you?"

Rhem's eyes faltered. "Uh, are you sure that's a good idea? I mean, the last time all six of us-"

"There are more important things to worry about," Voriki cut in, with a tinge of irritation rising in his voice. "Now, get going."

Rhem stopped before he was about to. "But wait, what about you?"

"I'll be there in a bit. I just need to talk to someone," Voriki said. He spared a glance to the Water Protector staring out at the Region of Water from another nearby cliff-one of many on this part of the Great Divide.

While Rhem warped away to meet with the other Toa, Voriki walked along the cliff towards Torren's. Voriki first met him on that same cliff. The vast ocean beyond it had been where Voriki saved Torren's sons mere hours before then. Voriki remembered the expression of relief and anger any father would have had after seeing his sons in peril. As Voriki came up to his side, Torren stared at the ocean with a haunted look and his hands wrapped around a piece of paper.

"Back at the beach," Voriki began, "when I mentioned about you leading your people against these invaders… it was Uram, wasn't it? He led your people."

The Water Protector's answer came in a quiet tone. "The others may have led, but Uram was the mind behind them all. After so many losses, it was all we had…" The paper crumbled in Torren's fist, "... but near the end, something was wrong. I had seen in it how Uram talked to others. How he kept himself to his secret works. I tried telling the others, but I wasn't a Protector then. Maybe, they wouldn't have listened anyway. They just-"

"They just wanted to win," Voriki said, the words like a wailing ghost he couldn't force down his throat.

"Yes. The Elemental Guardians had been Uram's first works. His 'gifts' to protect the tribes, each meant to obey a specific Protector. That was when I noticed the change in his behavior. And I looked into it. I only found out when I had followed him." Torren's voice almost fell into a whisper. "And I had learned where he got his newfound knowledge from: Makuta himself."

Voriki's eyes narrowed after making his educated guess. "And it has been Makuta this whole time, hasn't it? And you've known ever since then?" he said with a tightened grip on his spear.

"I thought… I thought they would never believe me. Fighting against mortal threats is one thing, but Makuta was a story to them." Torren spared his first and only glance at Voriki. "Do you blame me?"

Voriki's grip relaxed around his spear. "No," he admitted almost quietly. "I'd do the same in your place… I don't know if it makes it better or worse, though."

Torren almost laughed and looked back to the ocean. "Yes, I suppose so. I felt the same then too. I had told the others Uram planned on taking over Okoto with the Guardians. It was true. Makuta had promised him that, but I had shown the others Uram's plans and how to stop him." Again, Torren paused for what felt like an eternity. "It happened in the final battle with the invaders. By then, we had already driven them back completely. All of us knew what to do, so we... we took what Uram used to control the Guardians and captured him."

"But you didn't kill him. You couldn't," Voriki finished yet again.

"How could I? He was still my brother, even after he..." Torren fell silent, too pained to reveal that one bit part of information. He admitted the rest, though. "In the end, I left Uram stranded and had the others tell everyone of Uram's true plans. To this day, I don't know if I made the right decision."

Voriki had the feeling Torren didn't just mean his decision to let Uram live. The Toa glanced down to the note in the Protector's hand and saw the writing on it: " _Father had chosen wrong._ "

No matter how hard he wanted to comfort Torren, Voriki couldn't find the words. Part of the Toa understood what the Protector had gone through. Another part hated what had been held back all this time. ' _Only because his tale reminds you of what happened_ ,' said a voice deep in Voriki's mind, a voice the Toa of Lightning stuffed under today's problems. No need to dwell on the past.

"We'll have to wait and see, I guess," Voriki said, a bit dejected and regretful at the same time. Then, he left Torren to stare at the ocean of the Water Region.

* * *

As he walked to the top of the Great Divide, Voriki almost stopped when he saw how the other Toa were. They looked far worse now than the fight in the Region of Ice. All five stood at the Great Divide's very center where all the six regions could be seen from the distance, each of their backs facing their respective regions.

Kaze stood, his crossed arms tense and shaking with so much agitation that he didn't notice the slightly anxious Rhem. Maram slumped beside the Toa of Air, his once bright armor now a light shade of gray with slight bruises from a cave-in in Korgot's Caverns. On his left, the small Zala looked smaller now as she held in her arms two halves of her scythe that had been split in the same cave-in.

Voriki didn't have many questions. Even if he did, he didn't want to ask them. Coming up to the lot, he instead looked to Keela. "Anything?"

Keela, who had arrived seconds before Voriki, turned her visible and downcasted eye from her satchel. "Norii… Uram took Protector Ignar's daughter," Keela said quietly. "I… I tried looking for her, but…"

Voriki put a comforting hand on her shoulder. "I know. We all heard," he said as gently as he could. He then told the other Toa, trying to sound confident as much as possible, "You have been through a lot. We've already taken a lot of hits from this Uram. Well, he'll have another thing soon enough-"

"But how?" cut in Rhem. "He's winning so far. How can we do it without a plan?"

"And a plan isn't worth anything without information," a more irritated Kaze agreed with Rhem, two things which Voriki thought weren't possible.

"I'm getting there," Voriki quipped over the distant waters crashing into the rocks. And over their sounds, he had explained to the other Toa of what his Protector had told him.

Despite the team's silence, Voriki noticed their looks when explained about Uram and Makuta. Kaze's firm glare and the sudden breeze told everyone of his anger at both. The latter made the quivering Zala hug her broken weapon closer. At the former, Keela's visible eye and even her telescope widened with understanding. "That's what he meant," she said after Voriki was done. "It makes sense, now. The pieces, us being here, all of it."

"Um, okay, but what does it mean?" asked Rhem, the only one uncertain about any of it.

"It means we have to work together," Vorik said. " _For real_ , this time. If we're going to win at all, we need to stay coordinated. No solo missions, no running off on your own. We work together and get through this together, whether any of you like it or not."

Kaze ignored Voriki's tiny glare on him. "And the Guardians?" he said gruffly. "We can't do anything about them until we find some weakness."

"There is one," Keela spoke up. "I wasn't sure before, but my second encounter with Uram proved it."

Everyone else watched as Keela pulled out six bits of iron from her satchel and placed them on the ground. Her hands crafted one bit, shaping it into a six-inch model of an insect creature with what looked like vines sticking out. Voriki noted now Kaze tensed. Rhem, the complete opposite of Kaze, asked, "What are we looking at exactly?"

"This is a model of the Jungle Guardian," Keela explained after crafting the thing down to the smallest crack. "Now take a look at the center. Right in its chest."

Everyone did, as Keela flipped it over. Zala was the first to notice. "Is that… a mask?"

"It seems so," said Maram, breaking his silent vow for the first time today.

"It wasn't just this one," Keela went on to produce another model, and another, and another. "These are the other guardians. Here are the Water and Stone Guardians Voriki and I encountered on our way to the Region of Ice."

"I remember him!" Rhem cut in, pointing at the Stone Guardian's model. "Maram and I only made dents in that thing! Trust me, heit was a tough rock!"

"Only because you didn't know its weakness," Keela told him, her voice methodical like her telescope which she tapped gently. "I managed to quickly scan it and the Water Guardian. They too have masks on-"

"On its back, and the other on its right foot," Voriki finished, remembering Keela's words from the specific fight. His eyes counted the guardians present: Water, Jungle, Earth, and Stone. "Only the Ice and the Fire Guardians are left. We find their weaknesses, we can take them out."

Zala spoke up, like a little critter against a mighty wind. "But the other shards. Ma… Makuta… he…" she said, only to stop and almost retreat back.

Maram spoke on her behalf, his voice as dim as Fire Region's red light behind him. "What she means, there are still the other shards of Makuta's mask. And it may be difficult facing the Guardians. More than likely, the Earth Guardian had attacked us at Korgot Caverns to take the shard from Zala and I. It shows us this Uram will go to any lengths to secure the rest."

"Yeah," Voriki said, almost quietly. "We'll work something out there-"

Kaze cut him off, glaring. "Not good enough. You want us to work together? Then, you ought to have a real plan."

"And I have one," Voriki snapped back.

As he unveiled his plan, Voriki's sparkling eyes surveyed the other Toa. Maram remained hunched over, Zala almost shook when she was brought up, Kaze kept firm as if to show reluctant acceptance, and Rhem was Rhem. Only Keela looked like she fully understood Voriki's plans. Voriki himself wasn't sure to be pleased or concerned, but he didn't worry about that too long when he saw Zala looking at something. Following her gaze, Voriki noticed two lumps behind the distant rocks on the Great Divide.

* * *

"Did any of them notice us?"

Waya, peeping over the rocky formation, answered his brother, "... No, I don't think so."

"'Kay, let's go!" Mizu said, crouching away from the rocks he and Waya had hid behind for several minutes. Waya had called out for him-not too loudly, or else someone might hear them, but Mizu was already heading down the Great Divide for the Earth Region where Maram and Zala had left. "Come on, Waya! Do you want to get caught?"

"Wait-oof!" Waya said, sliding down the rockface onto the ledge where Mizu stood. "... Mizu, just listen for a sec-" Mizu wouldn't have any of it, so Waya went down and down the Great Divide to catch up with this brother, all the while shouting, "Mizu, wait! Can you just slow down?!"

To Waya's dismay, Mizu didn't until several jumps down. By the time the little brother reached his older brother on another ledge, the top of the Great Divide was high above their head. "Alright, we should be good now," said Mizu, patting a hand on Waya's back. "Are you good?"

"Yeah… I think so…" Waya said between pants, "... but Mizu, our dad was nearby and-"

"Don't worry about him. Our best bet is with the Toa. We stick with them, we figure it out, and then…" Mizu said dismissively, but he wasn't after seeing Waya's concerned stare. "Well, what's the problem _now_?"

The hesitant Waya admitted, "... I don't like this, Mizu. You know what happened the last time we tried sticking with the Toa? We almost got crushed! Mizu, this isn't just another scheme… it's… it's..."

"Insane, of course," Mizu snorted. "Believe me, I know it's dangerous. But the answers are out there! And a couple of rocks can't stop us."

 _Us_? The word made Waya feel more dread than before. "You're really doing this, aren't you?" He went on when Mizu turned around with no answer. "Mizu, didn't you hear what the Toa said? Makuta's involved! _Makuta_! Don't you remember all the tales?! I don't know if mom would even-"

Mizu whirled around, his eyes like a great storm. "Mom isn't here! And you're the one not getting it!" he argued with a pointed finger. "The man who took her is back, and I'm _not_ going to let him get away with it!"

Waya wished he hadn't brought up mom. She was always a touchy subject for Mizu, who remembered her better than Waya himself. Now, he had no counterargument or anything as Mizu held his shoulders. "This is our chance, Waya," Mizu had said. "A chance to get back at him! A chance to prove ourselves to dad _and mom_! Don't you want that?"

Staring into his older brother's eyes, the wordless Waya slumped his shoulders. He knew he had to stay with Mizu to make sure nothing terrible happened. "Alright… what do you have planned?" Waya regretted asking after he saw Mizu's grinning eyes.


	24. Chapter 22: Heart of Ice

Despite being a Toa of Time, Rhem had a little difficulty keeping track of it after he had last spoken with the other Toa. Before then, he remembered the minutes go by while he walked to the City of the Mask Makers. How long had it been since? A day? No. Two weeks, perhaps? It felt like an eternity and a flash all at once. There was one thing that remained the same-

 _Thump-thump…_

Rhem's heart. He heard it after blocking everything else out, just as he learned under Voriki… what, days ago? Weeks? No matter. His heart beated in the stillness. Rhem let the sound guide him to his destination.

 _Thump-thump. Thump-thump..._

He pushed through the Great Divide, past the Stone and Water Regions lying on either side. The dry heat and humid air shifted quickly-in milliseconds?-into a familiar cold air. Rhem didn't stop there, otherwise he would be on the edge of the Ice Region. He went across the miles of icy wastes, and through any lines of unknowing Crystal Guards.

 _Thump-thump. Thump-thump. Thump-thump…_

The walls of Izotor's Glacier came and went, and so did its people who couldn't perceive time as Rhem could. Out of the jagged street patterns and stalactite-like spires, a blocky home had been the Toa of Time's focus. When he first arrived in Okoto, a nice wife of a cold Protector had ushered him inside. Later on, he entered the home to listen as the Protectors decided to split. And now, he appeared in the main lobby of that same home to find-

"Intruder!" shouted one of several Crystal Guards who first noticed the Toa of Time appearing out of nowhere.

Rhem held up his hands to the icy spears pointed at him. "Woah, woah, woah! Hey, it's just me! Toa Rhem, remember?!" Only a few spears lowered while everyone else looked to each other in confusion. "Uh, don't you guys remember me?"

"... We do, Toa," stated one female Crystal Guard, but uncertainty betrayed her stoicism.

"Good! So, how about everyone just calm down? ... Uh, please?" Rhem asked, eying the even more confused guards. With so many spears, Rhem wished he hadn't given up his sickle over to Keela.

The very guard who called Rhem out said, "Our protector ordered us no strangers are to enter Izotor's Glacier without permission, let alone his home!"

"But I'm not a stranger! Well, not much," Rhem said, ignorant of the steps approaching from above. "Please, I just want to talk to Protector Hunarr and-"

"Guards," said a voice from above, and everyone-Toa included-looked up to Protector Hunarr staring down from the staircase. "Stand down."

The Crystal Guards did so after exchanging glances again, and Rhem rushed up the steps, skipping every three to reach Hunarr. The gaze greeting him, however, was usually ice cold. "What are you doing here?" the Protector asked, stopping Rhem in place.

"Well, uh," Rhem began, rubbing the back of his neck, "... I thought I'd come around… see how you're doing, you know."

"I am well. Now leave."

"Wha-?" Seeing the Protector just turn, Rhem almost backed down a step. "Listen," he said as he followed Hunarr, "I know things are… a bit tense, but it's not going to be like this forever."

"And why not?"

"Because then other Toa and I are working on a plan to stop Uram and-"

"You mean like how you stopped him _last time_?"

Rhem flinched against the bitter glare reflecting off the frozen walls. "I… well…" Still following, Rhem again tried to come up with the right words. "Look, I'm doing what I can to make sure it doesn't happen. I'm training everyday-"

"So I've seen," Hunarr droned.

"-and the other Toa are figuring out a way to work together. It's possible. You just have to stop with the guards and join with Torren to stop..." Rhem stopped, realizing Hunarr hadn't paid attention to almost a single word. Throwing up his arms, Rhem exclaimed, "Ugh, you aren't even listening! Why don't you trust me on this?! Is it because of my element?! Seriously, I've dealt with enough of that from Kaze as is!"

Hunarr stopped, twirled, and his eyes pierced into a shocked Toa of Time. "I do not trust you because I _cannot_. On anything," he said, his voice sharp like an ice pick. "You are part of Torren's secrets. Secrets he had kept from us. Despite everything, I had put my trust in him, and it cost me my wife."

"But she's still alive!"

"As Uram's hostage, along with others. Knowing him, they will not last long." Again, Rhem flinched while Hunarr's went on. "You and your fellow Toa have failed to keep them safe, you have failed to protect these people when Uram had attacked them, and you have failed to save my wife. And I had put my trust in Torren to bring you all here. If Ignar was right about one thing is this: there is no one you can trust. There is no one _but myself_. Does that answer your question?"

It did, but Rhem didn't like it. His vision swayed on the Protector of Ice, someone who was tiny compared to a Toa but held far more command than Rhem ever had before. The cold words frozen him to the core and dragged his eyes to the floor. There, he saw the guilt staring up at him. The failure to save the first person who had shown him kindness in a cold land. With that stare, something rose within Rhem.

Hunarr's reflection turned with the Protector. "I will have my men closing on the border soon enough. You should leave... Join with your 'Toa,'" he had said before walking up the stairs to his room.

"I'll get her back." The words from Rhem were simple, but his voice rose as he stared at Hunarr's back that grew smaller and smaller. "I'll get her back. Somehow, I'll get her back. You hear me?! I'll find Aska and bring her back home! I swear it!"

Rhem's voice echoed across the icy walls of before the Toa warped away to the sight of Hunarr turning to him, the Protector's expression solemn as melted snow.

* * *

Rhem's heart kept on pounding furiously after he reappeared on the Great Divide. It had been the same spot where he and the other Toa had met to discuss their plans. That must have been less than a day ago. Only Voriki waited for him now, his spear at ready for any danger. "How did it go?" the Toa of Lightning asked, and Rhem's clenched fists of frustration answered him. "... Okay. Well, are you ready?"

Nodding, Rhem followed Voriki across the Great Divide. Rhem didn't pay attention to how much time had passed, not that it mattered. Hunarr's words haunted him every step of the way. They stung at his heart, like the huge stone he banged his foot against. "Ah!" Rhem hissed.

"I was wondering if you were going to say something," Voriki noted. "You've been awfully quiet."

"It's nothing," Rhem muttered after he let his foot down, but the impatience overtook him a second later. "Ah, it's this whole thing with the protectors! I know what happened! I know we're responsible, but… but this..." Rhem sighed, his shoulders sagging. "... I just don't like what's going on. Back with the Region of Ice."

"Did the protector say something?" asked Voriki who went down the Great Divide.

"He did…" Rhem admitted, his voice low like the steep incline. "He's not budging at all. If anything, he wants to keep the way things are after… after what happened, you know."

"Maybe he isn't wrong," Voriki said, briefly looking up to a surprised Rhem. "What? He's trying to protect his people. I can get why he's doing what he's doing. Doesn't mean I agree with his methods, but still."

"But if he's going through with this, then the other protectors are probably doing the same!" Rhem argued, almost sliding down the Great Divide to catch up with Voriki. "I saw how the other protectors were! By the elements, we've barely held it together! You've already seen other Okotans almost fighting each other!"

"Then, we make sure that doesn't happen," Voriki said so sure.

So sure that it befuddled Rhem. "But how? I mean, the six of us alone can't do it. Who can we count on other than ourselves?" He paused when he realized something. "And where are we even going?"

At last stopping along the bottom of the Great Divide, Voriki raised his spear. "That should answer your last question," he told Rhem, pointing at the dilapidated structure atop a distant hill.

Stopping beside him, Rhem peered at the structure. "Looks impressive, I guess," he commented, his white eyes glancing at Voriki. "... what is it?"

Voriki, walking towards the structure, answered, "The Temple of Time. This is where Torren and the others had summoned us… at least that's what Torren told me when I first arrived."

"And what are we doing here?"

"Taking a look," Voriki explained, waving a free hand to Rhem. "Come on. You don't want to get left behind, do you?"

And Rhem followed Voriki up the hill instead of down the Great Divide. All around, Rhem saw ancient hills and stalks that could've once been obelisks. The stairs leading up to the so-called Temple of Time could've been the same in the near-future. The temple itself looked like a metronome Hunarr kept in his study.

After reaching the top with careful steps-lest he somehow damaged them-and looking at the archways overhead, Rhem asked, "So, what are we looking for exactly?"

"Anything really," Voriki said while entering ahead. "Remember when Keela said about the 'prophecy' that brought us here? There may be a clue worth looking into about that. If anything, we can use this place as a sanctuary for the worst-case scenario."

Wondering if it would come to that, Rhem's memory of the Crystal Guard and the Water Okotans had answered his own question. He couldn't imagine Okotans surrounding the Toa, but should any fighting come near, could the Temple of Time withstand it all? Rhem thought not, looking at the cracked walls. Then again, it had stood for centuries, maybe millennia, and Keela could always make some improvements.

"It's a little dark in here," Voriki commented and channelled some power into his spear. "There, that should do it!"

The bits of light from Voriki's crackling spear only helped a little. From what Rhem could see, strange markings covered the cracked walls of a round chamber. A few looked similar to the Okotan writing system. The rest wasn't even readable. They remained as old as the rest of the temple, bare for the whistling wind and the strange ringing-

Wait, _ringing_?

Voriki didn't seem to notice it, having gone to the elevated platform in the chamber's center. Rhem moved away from Voriki and his glowing spear. Rhem's curiosity and instinct told him not to ignore the sound. "Well, Voriki said to look for a clue," Rhem murmured to himself once out of earshot. "Maybe, this place may have a clue about my powers."

Rhem followed the only clue he had until it led him to the furthest end of the temple. Even in the dark, Rhem recognized the outline in the floor, and the beams of daylight entering from a nearby window proved it. "Hey, I think I've found something!" Rhem called to Voriki. After waiting for him to come over, Rhem knelt down to point at the print. "Right here. Don't these look like feet?"

"And they're recent, too," Voriki noted, kneeling beside Rhem. "It must have been Uram, but why come here?"

A quick look, Rhem found the answer. "Hey look, there's some writing!" he said, marching over to the wall in front. "Do you know what it says?

"... Not sure." Voriki's tone said otherwise, but Rhem focused more on the wall than Voriki.

The strange characters were like the rest, indecipherable to Rhem's eyes. At the same time, the ringing had been the loudest here, like the echoes of a struck gong. And maybe it was due to the electricity on Voriki's spear, but Rhem swore the writing was glowing.

"Wait, Rhem! Don't touch-" Voriki said, but the Toa of Time already had-

 _-A golden mask shone as a symbol of peace in the center of a field ruined by constant battles. Figures in armor laid dead or dying, while their comrades cried by their sides or raged against enemies all over. The red sky and weapons ranging from maces to giant swords and others shrouded the forms of the combatants._

 _Among those circling around the mask to defend it, one purple combatant shouted, "There's too many! We can't hold out much longer!"_

 _"Keep them back! I have an idea!" a warrior in red ordered after pummeling a stray enemy, and he went closer towards the mask, calling five others to join him._

 _Left alone, the purple warrior kept on fighting. He fought with all he had, even though his comrades laid dead around him. He had seen a number of his own enemies mourn their own losses. Those were few. More came, and he couldn't find them forever._

 _It wasn't forever. The purple warrior felt the surge of energy. Everyone did, looking towards the center of the battlefield where the six other warriors surrounded the object being fought over. An object empowered with new energy, building upon itself over and over and over again._

 _Then, the mask broke into two halves-_

"-GAH!" Rhem screamed, back in the Temple of Time. He pulled himself away, staring at his surroundings to confirm his reality. He looked more at Voriki than the wall, its glow fading from the writing. "What… what was that?!"

The unanswering Voriki's glare was dead set on Rhem. "What did you see?" he asked seriously.

"I… I dunno," Rhem answered between haunted breaths. "... I think I saw a mask… fighting and… and…"

Voriki held Rhem's shoulder in a tight grip. "Listen to me. Whatever you saw, do _not_ tell anyone about it. Alright?"

Rhem blinked. "But why?"

"Just-!" Voriki's voice rose, but he stopped himself. "... Just don't. I'll tell you about it when we have finished, but _please_. We can't afford to break this team apart. Not now."

Slowly, the shocked Rhem nodded his head. However, his mind slowly noticed it. The fear. The same haunted look in Voriki's eyes. As Rhem watched him walk off exploring the temple, the Toa of Time realized Hunarr hadn't been the only cold one today.


	25. Chapter 23: What Lies Beneath

Keela's hammer echoed across Ferra's workshop. For the past four days, the Toa of Iron intermittently welded, folded, heated and cooled several metal pieces over and over again. At times, they had been the only sounds throughout Nilkuu Village… aside from the constant debates between Ferra and her villagers.

"What was it this time?" Keela asked Ferra without looking away from the anvil.

"The same thing. Going on about increasing security on the Divide and making sure to look for Norii. Haven't been anything, but trouble," Ferra grumbled as she entered, and Keela said nothing. Norii, though half of the Stone Tribe, shook the village with her disappearance to some degree. "Speaking of trouble, where are your 'helpers?'"

The answers entered from the shop's backdoor. "C'mon Waya, hold up your end!" said Mizu, carrying a long metal slab with his brother.

"I am-oof!" Waya had said before knocking against the door frame at the sight of the Stone Protector. "Uh, hello Protector…"

"Well, they have been helpful," Keela told Ferra, gesturing for Torren's son to bring the metal to the pile next to her. The Toa of Iron found it strange when Torren's sons asked to join her. Perhaps, it was another plan of theirs, if Keela heard correctly from Voriki and Ferra. She would have to keep an eye on them.

For now, Mizu put the metal aside and said, "Whew! That's a large one!"

"I'll say. Hopefully, this gets us what we need," Waya agreed, but the Stone Protector cut them off.

"Don't get comfortable. As soon as she's done with you, it's back to your father. Got it?" Ferra hissed before heading out of the back door.

"Mizu, stop it!" Waya whispered, and Keela amusingly saw the older brother give a rather rude gesture to the departing Ferra.

"You should take it easy on her," Keela told the brothers in between hammers, catching their attention. "Things have been… tense, as you've seen."

"Doesn't mean a protector should act like the rest of her people," Mizu said, and Keela guessed the irritation was from all the looks he and his brother had received. "They are supposed to be leading them by example after all, or some urdak dung like that."

"I don't know much about politics, but I understand there's a history with your protectors… particularly after this invasion," Keela said. Mizu shifted like the flat blade Keela held, falling silent while Waya perked a little with interest. "I guess you lived through it?"

"Well, we were little, then. Mizu remembers more than I do," Waya spoke up and went on like a good student in a class. "I've heard stories of the protectors leading the defense against the invaders. Protector Hanu used to be known as the Great Cleaver. He could cut sink an invader's ship with just one cut from his scythe."

"Well, that's what the stories say," Mizu droned with skepticism, "and that was before he got injured."

"Stories can have some truth to them. In a way, your protectors now almost remind me of us Toa," Keela remarked, sparing her first glance to the brothers' surprised looks. "Yes, we weren't too different from you. We had powers, but some of us didn't know what to do with them."

"And what about those who knew?" Mizu asked, curious.

Keela's voice fell a few decibels. "Well, some used it to protect the innocent. Others did the same but for fame or glory, more in service to themselves. And others… well, they could be more forceful than the rest."

"What about you?" Waya asked.

Keela folded a metal rod she pulled from an iron stove. "I was a little different than others. I wanted to learn more. Understand how things worked. It turned out to be the best for these people here."

"Maybe you should come over to Kivoda City," Mizu said. "You can be our Toa instead of Voriki."

"Mizu!" cried Waya.

"What? No offense to Voriki, but he isn't much help at home outside of making a few lightning bolts."

Keela chuckled, recalling when the Toa of Lightning had shocked the Skull Spiders on the beach. Another Toa ended the moment of brevity by entering the workshop with a breeze blowing away the smoke. "Keela," Kaze said with his ever-gravelly voice.

The hammer stopped, and Keela turned to the boys who were frozen at the sight of the Toa of Air. "Why don't you go in the back? There should be some more metals I can use. And look for the purer metals," she instructed. After Torren's sons shifted out of the backdoor to do so, Keela told Kaze, "I'm sorry. I guess they're still unsure about you from what they've heard."

Kaze's hands clenched and unclenched, a sign of annoyance and tiredness after practicing with his bow. "Are you still working on your protector's 'pet project?'" he asked.

"I've already finished," Keela answered as she went back to work. "I've been modifying a couple weapons for the other Toa."

"Is telling stories part of the process?"

Kaze's gruff question almost put an uneven crease in Keela's handiwork. "It's the only way to focus. Keep my mind off…" Keela stopped herself from remembering how she couldn't save Norii. She couldn't afford any weakness. Not now. "Anyway, are you sticking to the plan?"

"... Yes," Kaze answered after a second. "I'll meet with Maram in the Region of Fire. From there, we'll meet on Vizuna's Tortoise. I came here to check."

Feeling Kaze didn't just mean her, Keela dipped her work into a bucket of water. "Well, everything is alright here. Has anyone given you any trouble?" she said. Kaze shook his head, but Keela spoke again as the Toa of Air turned to leave. "Kaze, I don't know what happened, but I know it was out of your hands. Whatever you did… whatever you saw, it's passed us… _all_ of us. Anyone can fix their mistakes, if given a chance."

Kaze's red glare turned from Keela. "We'll see, maker," was all he said before he left the workshop.

From its smoking inside, Keela watched Kaze leave. _Maker_ , he had called her. She hadn't heard that in millennia. Keela supposed the title, however antiquated, fit her well as she pulled a familiar scythe from the cooling waters with two short blades on either end.

* * *

Not long after Kaze's departure did Keela leave Nilkuu Village on Norii's motorsled-with permission from Ferra. The small thing carried her across the desert in a few hours, give or take, sand trailing behind. At the end of those hours, her scope caught the black volcano resting in the light tan desert. The closer she approached, the clearer it was to recognize the petite Toa of Shadow waiting several feet from its base.

The same Toa, after greeting Keela, gazed at the remade scythe now in her hands. Her gaze widened at the fact she could split the weapon into two halves. "It's… it's…"

"I knew you would like it. Hopefully, it can help with this," Keela said kindly before her gaze rose up the dark volcano. "Has there been anything new?"

Recombining the scythe, Zala held it tightly as she stared up the volcano. "No…" she said with a quiet tone that almost hid the lie.

Keela spared a stoic glance. "Are you sure?"

"I…" Zala began, and she shivered with terror. "... He's there. I can feel him waiting… watching…"

Keela shouldn't have been surprised. Fifteen hundred years ago, a Mask Maker tried his infamous Mask of Ultimate Power here, only to be sealed away in the same realm Zala once thought as her home. A millennium later, the crater grew into a volcano as a minion tried to free that same Mask Maker. Of course, he would be here, under this great black behemoth of stone.

"Can you get me inside?" Keela asked, and looked back to a blinking Zala. "I mean, inside the volcano's shad-"

Zala instinctively stepped back from Keela. " _That's_ why you want me out here?!" Her pink eyes darted to the volcano then to Keela. "You know I can't! He's-"

"Zala," Keela said calmly, "I understand it is hard, especially after what you've been through, and I won't force you to do this, but I need a look. That's all. One look to understand what we're really up against."

After her shudder faded, Zala slowly and shakingly held out a hand for Keela to take. Her other gripping tightly on her new scythe, Zala meekly asked, "Just one look, okay?"

"Alright," Keela said, squeezing Zala's hand for assurance. That same hand took Keela's and placed it against the volcano's dark and shaded base as Zala gently submerged the both of them-

-and Keela's gaze widened more than she thought possible. She and Zala had partially dipped in with only their masks and upper torsos like they would into an ocean. In this particular ocean, purple and white bits swirled like miniscule grains in a swirling water of deep darkness. At the bottom laid a canyon with a city in the center. A city of dark towers coated in a corrosive purple, Keela found with her scope.

"Can we go now?" Zala asked, her timid voice echoing slightly.

"We will," Keela said, scanning the city. "I just need-"

Fear skyrocketed in Keela's mind with the great surge of dark red flame appearing in front. She fought it down and held firm, unknowingly holding Zala back from fully pulling out of the dark realm. Keela stared at the flames, watching them coalesce into a mass large enough to blot out the city.

" **So, you have come here** ," the flames rumbled, its eyes catching Zala, " **and you have brought her.** "

Keela pushed back the wave of bitter fear emanating from the flame. A flame she could attach a name to. "Makuta," Keela said over Zala's terrified whimpers.

" **Ah, so you know, but what good is it? Why are you here?** " Makuta said as he inched closer to the two Toa.

"To know you. And I have an idea of what you are now, Mask Maker."

Makuta stopped several meters short, but he was so large Keela couldn't really tell. She did notice his eyes narrowing. " **I am more than just a Mask Maker,** **and I will be far more with the mask.** **Now, where is the Stone fragment?** "

"Safe. From you and from Uram. No one can get to it! Not even you or Uram!" Keela said defiantly, unlike Zala who held her scythe to keep Makuta back out of fear.

" **You are resilient, but I wonder if you will last longer than her?** " Makuta chuckled and darted his eyes towards the quiverying Zala. " **Do you wonder what I had done to this pathetic Toa? Do you want to know what I made her see?** "

Keela didn't need the answer. "Zala, now!" she shouted, loosening her hold.

Zala yanked Keela out with all she had. It was a blur in the first second. In the next, Makuta had swarmed forward as the mass of dark flames lashing out everywhere. Keela swiped her free hand forward to keep them back. Something, a cold tendril, brazed across that hand, and Keela could see it: _dead bodies lying all around, a heavy figure with a giant mace and green eyes of envy, and a mask of-_

Pulled back into reality and falling on her read end like Zala, Keela gasped like someone holding her breath for a long time. The sandy air of the Stone Region's desert filled her with every following breath. The ashy scent did too and caught Keela's glare on the looming volcano that was as dark as the deepest pit.

Keela whirled and asked Zala, "Are you okay?" No response other than more shivering, save for the light jump when Keela put a hand on the Toa of Shadow. "It's alright. We're safe now, alright. We're safe."

Given how much Zala shook, she only believed that as much as Keela did herself: not much. Nonetheless, Zala looked at the Toa of Iron and asked, "D-did you see what you wanted?"

"Yes," Keela answered quietly, "yes, I did."

Zala stood up in a second. She tried putting on a brave face, even as her legs shook. "I… I should get going," Zala said. "My protector is waiting for me."

"Of course," Keela said and remembered where Zala was heading for. No doubt, Voriki and Rhem would be there.

That thought got Keela over to her motorsled and grabbing a satchel on it. "Here," Keela said, handing the satchel to Zala, "this is for Rhem. Can you please bring that to him? It's his new weapon."

"I-I will," said Zala who took the satchel.

"Thank you. And Zala?" Keela said as the Toa of Shadow was about to leave. "I'm sorry to put you through that. I didn't want you to get hurt again, but believe me, you helped me understand our enemy better than before. I just wanted you to know that."

The heartfelt emotion warmed Zala-briefly, Keela noticed. "I... I hope so," Zala said and turned her shivering body, never letting go of her new weapon or Rhem's for an instance.

After watching Zala walk off, Keela went for the sled. Before getting on, she stopped, looked at her hand, and casted aside the dark flames worming around her hand.

* * *

 **AN: Whoops! Meant to put this up yesterday. Don't know how I missed this. Sorry about that!**

 **Raika out.**


	26. Chapter 24: Long Shadows

Zala, once speeding across the Stone Region's desert, stopped. Her attention was on the cave in front instead of her tired body. Arising from a rocky outgrowth, it had been in her best interests to avoid the shadows, and one stood before her, open wide like a devouring mouth. Hanu first led through it to meet with Zala, and he again stepped out of said mouth.

Zala backed slightly. "Um, you wanted to see me?" she asked, holding the new scythe. Hanu turned back around and led Zala into the cave. "W-wait!"

Contrary to what Zala initially thought, several crystals eased her worries in a soft purple light. Inside, Hanu's thudding, and almost seething, steps stopped when he turned to the Toa of Shadows. Looking at him, Zala's gaze followed Hanu's finger pointing to the scythe on her back.

"Oh, this?" she said, drawing the weapon out for Hanu to take it. "Um, the… the two blades were Keela's idea. I hope you don't mind..."

Hanu's eyes studied the weapon, even as he went down the tunnel. From behind, Zala felt uneasy when Hanu held the S-shaped handle, twisting and pulling the scythe into two halves to his confusion. "I… I asked Keela for that… Last time taught me I'm not as good with large swipes as you," Zala tried to explain.

Swinging each half, Hanu seemingly agreed with Zala's assessment. One arc almost grazed by the Toa of Shadow. With an "eep!", she stepped back from Hanu who put the two halves back together. When he held out the whole scythe, Zala gulped and reached for it. "Um, thank you-"

Hanu pulled it away before she could grab it. Zala blinked once, then she reached again. She blinked twice and thrice after Hanu pulled the scythe each time. "Hey, give it back!"

Zala regretted her words as she bent backwards under the thrusting scythe. She would've fallen if she hadn't grabbed the scythe. Twisting it, Zala pulled the top half and herself away from Hanu to stare at him. Was this a Protector venting on a Toa who couldn't protect his grandson? Did he want to prove how weak she was?

When Hanu relaxed, the Toa of Shadows met the Protector's disappointed gaze. "You… you were testing me?" she asked, and again, her eyes followed Hanu's pointing finger. This time, he pointed at her feet.

Feet standing on the edge of Hanu's shadow.

Hanu denied Zala the chance to step out of it. He held his scythe right or left, to keep the Toa of Shadows where she was. She didn't want to be in or near any shadow, and being boxed into Hanu's didn't help. "Stop that!" Zala yelled and at last swiped at the Protector.

Taking a step back, Hanu followed up his block with a grapple, hooking the two blades together. Though Zala drew on all the strength her arms had, Hanu pulled first and with enough force to make her stumble. Leaning forward, she pulled back at the sight of hers and Hanu's combined shadow lingering on the rocky floor.

She didn't pull free. She couldn't. A sleight of Hanu's hand locked the two tinier scythes good. "Okay, okay! You win! Just please… let me go," she said, her voice pleading at the end.

Hanu's eyes met Zala's shaky gaze. Then, he disengaged and returned the other half of the scythe to its owner. Zala hesitated before she took it. She still shrunk Hanu's stare. He was like a disappointed parent, or grandparent in his case. " _Why?_ " Hanu didn't ask, but the words creeped by Zala whilst in his shadow. " _Why didn't you use your powers, now? Why not then?_ "

"I…" The other words stopped in Zala's throat. Could she explain? Her powers were of the shadow, of what it held. It was a domain belonging only to her, _once_.

Hanu's feet inched closer, and his hand gripped Zala's wrist. The Toa, looking down at the old Protector, heard him rumble in her mind: " _What are you afraid of?_ "

Out of all the answers she had, Zala hated the one for that question. "It's what's inside," she said, her voice trembling like her body. "Last time, I saw _him_ in it and he… he made me see things. Things I didn't want to…"

Zala couldn't get the rest out. What she did get out convinced Hanu to let go of her wrist. The freed Toa of Shadows watched him go briefly until she followed, trailing behind his long shadow.

* * *

As the walk continued, Zala glanced around her whenever the tunnel dimmed even by the tiniest fraction before the light returned at full strength. She tried, and failed, to pretend her surroundings didn't matter when Hanu looked over his shoulder to catch her obvious jumpiness. She was so focused on it she hadn't wondered where Hanu was taking her.

If Zala had, she found her answer glowing bright at the end of the tunnel. Hanu entered the light, and Zala's eyes widened when she followed him into it. She stared at a large cavern lit by several stalks of glowing crystals, almost feeling like her old self.

"Wow," she uttered, relaxing by the lit stalactites and stalagmites. "What is this place?"

Hanu leading further into the cavern. Zala's wonder grew at the sound of rushing water and the sight of an underground river, of all things, lying ahead! And it was a river glowing a light purple in the cavern's light.

Zala, admittedly a little parched from walking, knelt down for a few sips. She let the water settle on her hand, watching it drip like a child would with a crystal lamp. She turned to Hanu standing beside her. "Oh, do you want some?" she asked. Hanu shook his head, rather pointing to a rather glowing part of the river in front. Zala, "Yes, it looks really beautiful-hey!"

To her surprise, Hanu grabbed Zala's hand and sunk it into the river. Zala's surprise grew when she felt something beneath all the light reflecting off and refracting in the cool currents. Her powers turning on, both her hand and Hanu's sunk into a dark portion.

Then, Hanu began to fall in it.

With a yelp, Zala yanked with both hands before the Protector either drowned or fell in the other realm waiting beneath. After she brought him onto the rocky bank, she immediately checked on him. "Are you okay?! You could've been hurt! You… you..." Zala asked and stopped when she met Hanu's grinning stare. "... you did that purpose?! W… _Why_?!"

Despite the water covering half of his old body, Hanu jabbed a finger repeatedly at the purple orb on Zala's chest armor. Then, he jabbed it at her surprised mask. Knowing she aws trapped in his web of questions, Zala looked at her hands and answered what she guessed was the first.

"My powers? They… they just don't let me go through places. Sometimes… I can see glimpses of things. Memories, but not really. More like, well, shadows. I was safe there before. Now, this Makuta…"

Hanu's eyes grew in surprise, then in bitter understanding. A tiny scoff left him, as if to berate himself for not realizing it. Zala, too late to stop, continued, "... I couldn't stop him. The things he made me see… I… I don't know how to face him… I don't know if I can ever go back…"

For a third time today, Hanu held Zala's hand. For a second time, he dipped it into the river's shadowy spot-after giving Zala an assured glance. For the first time, Zala saw something. A shadow of a memory, like she described to Hanu, where two young Okotans played in the river.

 _"Ha, I got you, Tira!"_

 _"K-Kerac, stop splashing me! Father, please tell him!"_

Zala turned to stare at a sad and nostalgic Hanu, who pulled her hand and herself back to reality. "Was that… from back _then_? From the invasion?" Zala asked and received a nod. She never fully understood, having only seen glimpses in her realm or overheard a word or two. "Why show that to me?"

Hanu's hand let go of Zala's to rest on his heart, gripping it to show pain. The fist it became revealed strength and a will to live. Zala looked from the hand to Hanu's mask mimicking that same strength and drive. "You… you went through a lot, didn't you? And you still keep going? Even now?" she said and Hanu's nodding surprised her.

Memories flashed in Zala's mind. Memories of Tira crying for her missing son, of Makuta attacking her, and of Kaze's glare and words reminding her of the past. " _Coward_ ," she still heard.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry I couldn't-" Zala blurted but a rumble cut her off.

The rumble grew from a mighty groan, tumbling and shattering crystals. The sources of light were quickly replaced by two eyes. Specifically, the eyes of the Earth Guardian whose head emerged from the tunnel both Toa and Protector had entered earlier.

"Is there any way out?!" Zala yelled over the deep groan.

If there was one, a falling rock blocked Hanu's path like how the Earth Guardian blocked their entrance. The same Guardian approached, cracking the walls and ceilings in several places like it did at Korgot's Caverns. Zala swirled, looking for any other exit until her eyes fell on the river right by them.

She swirled back to the old Protector. "Close your eyes!" Hanu obeying, Zala held him tight and fell into the river. The following _splash_ vanished as Zala's former home swarmed all around the two in its dark depths.

Though safe from the raging behemoth of a Guardian and a soon-to-be cave-in, Zala wanted to get away as quickly as possible. She and Hanu floated where they were, the former waiting and watching. The slivers of memories-bright and dim alike-lingered by, each each screeching, laughing, or crying from the past.

Among them, the huge sludge of the Earth Guardian lumbered around as it searched in the real world too. Sometimes, the sludge marched on Zala and Hanu. Other times, it stopped to look for them. In both instances, Zala swore she saw a golden flicker in the distance.

Zala was right when the sludge came close, the Earth fragment shining from it. Only _half_ , just as she had noticed back in Korgot's Caverns. Now, it was lodged inside the Guardian looking for her.

Reaching for the fragment, Zala first felt the sludge passed through her and Hanu. It was harmless but a sharp tingle sparked from its touch and with it came something. Zala pushed through it, hoping to touch the fragment. She did but she saw it-

- _The Guardian crawled on the sandy ground. It moaned from the empty crack in its very heart. The pain wouldn't stop. It needed to be healed. It needed help, but it couldn't deny the call. The call from its master waiting on the beach_ -

"-No!" Zala said. Her touch had pushed the fragment not into the shadowy world but to the outside world, in the same area with the Earth Guardian. Yet, Hanu kept Zala from chasing after its shadow, his eyes gone wide at his new surroundings. "It's okay! It's okay! Keep your eyes closed!"

Zala held onto Hanu, trying to calm him down as best she could. With no fragment in hand and a Protector to bring home, she could not go after the sludge. The sludge, the Earth Guardian, disappeared in the distance. It blended it, yet a presence turned Zala's gaze over her shoulder.

Something else came the other way. A dark flame.

"Hang on!" Zala yelled and kicked off again with everything she had.

Toa and Protector sped off, away from the Earth Guardian's shadow. The former pushed off an invisible current, sparing a glance or two every few seconds. The dark flame was getting closer. Zala tried to go faster.

With that thought, Zala brought Hanu towards a great black expanse which loomed overhead. Zala recognized it as the Great Divide. It was a good spot, but one full of shadows where Hanu could be attacked. Staying in here would be worse, so Zala looked around for some exit. She found one, until something in the distance caught her peripheral vision: a _light_.

Zala went towards it. The closer she got, the more she recognized the slivers and bits coalesced into a ball in front. Behind though, the dark flame got even closer, enough for Makuta's eyes to shine through it. Zala went even faster, in spite of the weight-less mound on her side.

It wasn't a boulder, Zala told herself. It was Hanu, and she needed to get him out of there. She needed to get _both of them_ out, and she would! She just needed... to get... a little… _closer_!

Reaching the glowing ball, Zala did.

* * *

 _Fighting. Zala heard it from inside her realm. She could even see it, as several moving blobs- great warriors and fighters-collided only to stop dead. She couldn't get out there. She didn't want to! Weak and weaponless, Zala would die at anyone's hand. It wouldn't matter who it was. Everyone just wanted to fight._

 _Yet the warriors stopped, to Zala's amazement. She looked up at every frozen shadow. Something was happening. Zala would've waved it off if not for recognizing slivers flying past her, every one of them verging on a single point._

 _Then, they all exploded into a wave of power…_

"...Zala! Hey, Zala!" someone called, giving Zala a sense of deja vu as she woke up.

"Rhem?" Zala groaned at the Toa of Time watching over her. Sitting up, she looked around the walls of an unusual structure she didn't recognize. "Where… am I?"

"It's just a temple Voriki and I have been exploring the past few days," Rhem explained. "We were about to leave when you and your Protector showed up-"

A reminded Zala grabbed Rhem. "Hanu, is he alright?!"

"He needs some rest. We can take him to the Jungle Tribe for healing," said Voriki from the side whilst watching over the sleeping Protector of Earth. "What happened to you two? I thought you were with Keela."

Hand to her head, Zala answered, "I… I was. I met with Hanu when we were attacked."

"Attacked? By a Guardian?"

"And Makuta," Zala said, earning surprised looks from Rhem and Voriki. She tried to stand, grabbing her scythe to hoist herself up.

Rhem supported her, saying, "Hey, take it easy!"

"He's right," Voriki said, "You have been through a lot."

"No, you… you need to hear this," Zala began, paused to think of Kaze briefly, and broke her hesitation. "... And there's something else you should know…"


	27. Chapter 25: Tall Tales

Though the Region of Fire's heat wanted to push Maram out, duty and discipline kept him strolling past its lava fields. The light he gathered leaked out in wisps while his search for Protector Ignar led him to the volcano on the end of the Great Divide. The Ember Guards, too busy searching through machines and cracks, hadn't stopped him. Neither did Ignar's personal guard, as Maram went up the volcano.

Ignar kept his focus on the grave before him, not the Toa who asked, "Was she special to you?"

"How do you know it's a 'she?'" Ignar's voice was as soft as the fiery pit the grave rested upon. He continued before Maram spoke again. "She was my wife. She was from the Stone Tribe, but she said she felt more at home here than with her people.."

"She must have been an amazing woman."

Ignar's bitter and nostalgic laugh surprised Maram. "If only. We were two idiots who wanted to get married. We didn't care about the consequences, even when Norii was born. It was just us and O'nah. The happiest days in my life… Then, the invasion took that away, and so did Uram." Ignar's fists balled over his memories, shaking with rage. " _Uram_. He gave us all false promises to further his goals. In the end, he wanted nothing to do with us!"

"And yet you all believed him. Even her," Maram said, a hand gesturing to the grave.

"She _still_ did. Even after he was done and we told everyone of his plans, she didn't believe a word. She trusted him more than us. More than me." Ignar's tone rose closer to, then fell away from, his usual anger. "Whatever the reason, she went to find Uram. Stupid woman, she came to this cursed battlefield. Wanted to use one of the old war machines until… it exploded."

 _Battlefield_. Maram's orange gaze fell onto the path he walked through. Looking from above, the few war machines were numerous, and the cracks were glowing fissures.

Ignar spoke again, catching Maram's attention: "I still remember that look when I found her. All crazed like she was under some spell. I buried her before Norii saw her body. I wanted to protect her… Never did I think Uram's monster would drag her here, to this once-dead volcano."

Norii. One among Uram's captives. Maram's fists glowed, releasing more energy he gathered, but he stopped as a green blur flew overhead. Ignar's guards tended to see Kaze land close to their protector and Maram.

"Hold!" Maram told guards when Ignar hadn't done so. Meeting his fellow Toa, Maram saw the concern in Kaze's usually stern glare. "Kaze, what is wrong?"

"I saw several Earth Okotans crossing the Great Divide. They're coming here," Kaze reported.

"When will they arrive?" After Maram asked did a drill-shaped spear hit the volcano's broadside.

Ignar's personal guard surrounded their protector, while the Ember Guards armed themselves. Both Toa tensed at a tiny wave of black Okotans crawling over the Great Divide from the Region of Earth. Despite Kaze's insistence, Maram opted to rush and meet them with hopes of peace.

"People of the Earth Tribe! Why have you come-" Maram caught a spear in one hand before it could pierce him. "Please, I mean you no harm! I only wish to know why you are here?!"

"You know why! We're here for Makuta's mask!" shouted one Earth Okoran.

An Ember guard shouted from below, "You have no business here! Turn back now!"

"It's our business!" another Earth Tribesman shouted. "You're here! That must mean the piece of Makuta's Mask is too!"

"It's not yours to take-!"

"ENOUGH! No one will attack one another, understand?! Now, I wish to speak with the leader of the group!" Maram shouted, throwing aside the spear. He was surprised when two familiar Earth Okotans stepped forward. "Kerac? Tira? Why-"

"You've heard our reasoning, Toa," Kerac said, hiding his frustration under a layer of respect.

"It's not just that," Tira added. "It's my father. He's been missing ever since he went to see Toa Zala. Some of our guards spotted the Earth Guardian heading by this area."

"You came on a guess? If so, you need not the fragment-" Maram reasoned but Tira cut him off.

"No, we do need it. Toa, we do not have our fragment. I don't want to fight, but without it, our tribe can't protect itself, and Kerac and I don't have a way to get our son back! Use your powers to show the fragment's location. Surely, it's right here! Please, you must understand!"

Maram didn't respond. Unlike Zala, he failed to notice the Earth fragment like due to the lack of light. If he had, none of this would be happening. "I understand, but if I do what you ask, there will be a fight." Maram gestured to the Ember Guards, "They will try to stop your people if you take their fragment."

"They will try. But we'll use anything to get our son back, Toa," Kerac said, and his wife joined in.

"Toa, please! You must-" Tira stopped when Kaze's arrow struck a fire spear meant for her.

Both Toa and Okotans whirled to the Ember Guard who threw the spear. "Get lost, you dark-dwellers! You have no right to be here!" she shouted, her fellows shouting in agreement.

"Is that all, soot-brain?!" Kerac shouted, his Tribesmen cheering as he raised his spear.

Grabbing the weapon, Maram aimed it down. The smoky remains of an earthen blast cleared, and Maram found Earth Okotans descending the Great Divide to meet the rising Ember Guard. "Wait!" Maram shouted, but the two sides crashed around him, Tira, and Kerac. "You must stop this, Kerac!"

"It's too late for that!" Kerac growled and freed his spear to block an Ember Guard's spear.

Crossed spears and shields blocked Maram's eyes from Kerac or his wife. As bits of earth and fire were exchanged, sending more smoke up into the air where Kaze now hovered, an old memory tugged on Maram's mind and almost froze him stiff. A memory of figures fighting each other. Not Okotans, but of…

"Wait!" Maram heard and whirled towards Tira. Too busy begging her fellow Tribesmen to stop, she was unaware of an Ember Guard aiming at her and an Earth Okotan aiming at him.

The ground shook from Maram's running feet, and one arm scooped up Tira. In one whirl, the giant sword on his back deflected a fireball, then he swung it off and down to protect the Ember Guard who shot him from an earthen attack. The Earth Okotan who fired it was soon tackled by another Ember Guard.

Maram turned his grimacing stare to the scared Tira. "I… I'm sorry! I didn't want…" she blabbered but the fighting drowned her words.

Maram looked up to Kaze's energy nets subduing the combatants while he avoided incoming blasts. "Kaze!" he called to the Toa of Air. "Give me support! There is something I must do!"

Fire and Earth Okotans parted from the ascending Maram. Anyone about to shoot him and Tira were disarmed and/or netted by Kaze, who hovered on the skirmish's outskirts while Maram ran to Ignar. "Wait!" Maram shouted before Ignar's guards aimed at Tira. After letting her down, Maram said, "Stay safe. If you see anyone running, Fire or Earth, do the same for them!"

Tira nodded and ran to the Great Divide's tallest rocks for shelter. Maram turned to Ignar. "Protector Ignar! You must listen!" Maram called, but the protector didn't move an inch. "Ignar! Your people are fighting a pointless battle down there! Only you can stop it!"

"Why?" Ignar asked, shocking Maram. "Something like was only inevitable. Uram saw to that."

"But you can still stop them!" Maram pointed down to the carnage. "If you do nothing, then your tribe or your brother tribe will be gone!"

"Perhaps it's better that way."

Maram's voice dropped. "... You cannot mean that."

"There is nothing you can ask me of me, Toa. I have nothing left to fight for," Ignar told Maram.

Maram's next words vanished under the sound of the rising sea. From the top of the volcano, he and Ignar turned to find the ocean below was rising… into a mighty wave. A wave so large it almost towered the volcano itself. If Maram wasn't so worried, he would've noticed the anthropomorphic squid-like Water Guardian riding atop it.

"EVERYONE, RUN! GET OUT OF HERE!" Maram shouted to the battle, and everyone below ran.

On the volcano, Maram got in front of Ignar and his guard, stabbing his blade down to make a wall of his light. It was too little, too late. The wave struck, becoming several rivers surging over and around the volcano to chase the Okotans. They struck Maram's barrier, breaking it…

… and sweeping him away.

* * *

 _The battle was getting closer. Its glow grew brighter on the horizon, and its deathly cries called to Maram from a mile away. After his sword blocked an energy bolt fired from the battle, Maram turned. "I cannot protect you like this forever. You must run while you can!"_

 _His charges shivered by his legs. "B-but where can we go? Who will protect us?!" one cried._

 _"You all have your own strength. Together, you can live, but-" Maram stopped to deflect another energy bolt, "-but you must leave now! I will distract them for you!"_

 _"P-please, don't leave us!" said another._

 _"Fear not. I shall return," Maram assured them before running across a scarred plain and towards the battle to hopefully buy his charges time to escape._

 _Maram barely got a quarter of a mile in before a great wave of power washed over him_ -

Maram's eyes shot open. Like in his dream, a light washed over him. Unlike it, water swarmed all around, dimming the light as Maram's body sunk face-down into its depths. Fire Okotans tried swimming nearby, while Ignar remained floating his guards. Earth Okotans plummeted even faster than the Toa of Light, whose eyes widened.

Several feet below, on the collapsed volcano, laid a golden fragment of Makuta's Mask. A fragment glowing warmly like the bits of lava surrounding it. Heading towards it and past Maram with slithering tentacles was the Water Guardian. Maram swam to catch up with it, his weight and his sword gaining speed for him to grab a tentacle and be grabbed by a few more.

As they squeezed the life out of Maram, he kept his gaze on the fragment. He pushed through screams long past to focus on today's faces: Hunarr's cold stoicism, Tira and Kerac's anguish, and Ignar's lost fire. Three times, their loved ones were taken. Twice via Maram's inability. Once from his absence.

Present and focused, Maram swung his sword on the fragment within reach.

 _BOOM!_

He breathed and suffocated from the fiery waves that blasted the Water Guardian and its flood away. He remained and even reached through the severe heat. When it dissipated, Maram fell safely with everyone else onto the flood-turned shallow pond. Splashes, thuds, and gasps rang all around, save for the flying Kaze.

Maram's legs kneed the rubble of the now-dead volcano, absorbing the faded light from underneath and the fragment in his hand. He eyed the Water Guardian across from him, burnt and suddenly pinned by Kaze's net. "You…" Maram said, "Your master has turned you against your people for this. He believes its power will help his own master beat us…"

As the trapped Guardian swatted Kaze away with whips of water, Maram drew in the light. In Korgot's Caverns, drawing a tiny crystal had him also drain his own strength to break free. Now, he stood, empowered by the fragment's fiery brilliance. "... But I shall tell you what they fail to understand about us Toa."

From Maram's swinging sword, a ringing beam of light met a growing bubble. Power flew off in waves, tearing bits of rock and evaporating any water left in the area. Planting his feet against the pushback of energy, the surprised screams, and the burning fragment, Maram spoke.

"I was a warrior. One willing to protect those in need even as my world crumbled. I carry that same will and so do my fellow Toa! Each of us has a fire that cannot be extinguished! And where there is fire, there is light! And I… _am_ … **_OF THE LIGHT!_** "

With a final push and a _FLASH_ of power, it was over. Intertwined light and heat vanished, leaving Maram the only one tall atop a ruined volcano devoid of lava or the water which flooded it. In the empty space before him were several melted stalks of _ice_ once part of a shield.

Having fallen on one knee, Maram barely processed it or the figures submerging into the waters beyond the now-observable beach. The fragment fell away with his newfound power, yet his pale gray body regained a little of its shine. "Thank you, Kaze," Maram said after the Toa of Air helped him to his feet.

Despite fighting minutes ago, everyone had made it out alright. In the back, Tira ran to her tired husband's side to check on him. Several Earth and Fire Okotans eyed each other warily in the middle, but both were too grateful to be alive to attack each other. Tension returned as Kaze aimed at Ignar approaching from the front.

" _You_. You knew it was here the whole time," Kaze growled.

Maram thought the same when he remembered Protector's words from earlier. However, he placed a free hand on Kaze's bow and shook his head. Kaze listened after a brief glare.

"You won't take it from me?" Ignar asked only of the Toa of Light, ignoring everyone else's eyes on him and the Fire fragment he had scooped into his hand.

"No. It is yours. You shall do what you will... but know this. I will be there to stop anyone from using it to harm the innocent…" Maram said it for the crowd, but he raised his voice even louder. "Know this! Voriki has a plan to rescue those in Uram's grasp. We shall pacify your guardians, and you will see your loved ones again! We will _not_ fail! Neither must you!"

It felt like everyone actually heard Maram as they made way for him. Hearing the murmurs, he walked to the Great Divide with Kaze. Maram spared one last glance after he reached the top. Every Okotans' eyes-some filled with uncertainty like Kerac, and hope for others like Tira-were on him and Kaze.

Ignar looked, too. His once-dead gaze had gone steely-eyed. Maram may not have known Ignar, but meeting the gaze, he felt they had understood each other a bit better. Maram prayed for it to pay off in the future, as he and Kaze silently left to meet with Voriki and the others.


End file.
